The celebrity ballroom dancing show attracted 6.53 million viewers on BBC One, while ITV’s singing contest was watched by 5.85 million.
Both shows went head to head in the schedule on Friday and started at 9pm but Strictly beat X Factor in the close race.
Strictly kicked off with show one of series 12 and saw the couples performing together for the first time.
An introductory episode announcing this year's line-up was broadcast back on 7 September but on Friday the judges and viewers finally saw each pair in action.
Strictly Come Dancing 2014: Who's dancing with who?
Show all 15
Meanwhile X Factor began the boot camp stage of the competition, having started almost a month ago. Friday night saw hopefuls face off against each other in the six-chair challenge as Cheryl Fernandez-Versini whittled down her category for the next phase of the contest.
The Strictly launch show also claimed a ratings victory against X Factor , drawing in8.4 million viewers, compared with the 7.8 million people who tuned it to watch the fourth episode of X Factor auditions.
Simon Cowell’s series will now be broadcast on three consecutive nights a week in a bid to boost ratings. The media mogul and Cheryl also returned to the judging panel to help improve viewing figures.
Channel 4’s popular series Goggleboxalso returned on Friday for a fourth series and came third in the ratings battle. The show, where ordinary people discuss television, was viewed by 2.67 million people.
Join our commenting forum
Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies