'The Voice' UK is BBC's biggest entertainment show in a decade
Published Jun 12 2012, 14:50 BST | By Alex Fletcher
The Voice UK has been declared a hit by the BBC and producers Wall to Wall, following the announcement that the show was the broadcaster's biggest entertainment launch in a decade.The talent show, which was won by Leanne Mitchell and coach Sir Tom Jones, had a consolidated series average of 9.2 million (38.5% share) viewers.
© BBC/Wall to Wall/Guy Levy
The figures are higher than the first series launches of Strictly, X Factor and I'm A Celebrity.
Ratings for The Voice UK climbed through the Blind Auditions and Battle Rounds, but the show struggled when it reached the Live Shows. The show hit a low of 4.49 million at the semi-final stages, but it did recover for the final which was watched by 8.7 million.
BBC One controller Danny Cohen, who gambled on purchasing the rights to the John de Mol reality series, said: "The Voice has broken all records for a new entertainment show on the BBC.
"I'm really proud of the coaches, artists and producers who have achieved this. It's great for BBC viewers that we have launched a new Saturday night entertainment show that has had such a big impact and connects so well with BBC values.
"There are also inevitably things you learn in the first series of a big new show, and we are confident that The Voice will return even stronger next year."
© BBC/Wall to Wall/Guy Levy
'The Voice' UK coaches Sir Tom Jones, will.i.am, Jessie J and Danny O'Donoghue
Leanne Klein, creative director at Wall to Wall Television, said: "Wall to Wall is very proud to have produced such a successful debut series.
"The Voice is a global phenomenon and the UK version is undoubtedly one of the very best. We look forward to working with Talpa and the BBC on the second series, using what we've learnt to make it even bigger and better for 2013."
The Voice UK will return for a second series in 2013 on BBC One. Hopefuls can find information on the auditions at bbcthevoiceuk.co.uk.
"The Voice has broken all records for a new entertainment show on the BBC." Yeah, biggest ratings drop in the shortest time.
June 13th 2012 at 12:43pm
Fantastic! The Voice was superb. Some genuine talent on there. Very good judges and gorgeous Holly. These types of shows can always improve though. So expect the 2013 series to be even better.
June 13th 2012 at 12:39pm
Great news, I loved The Voice a million times more than The X Factor. I love the fact that all the coaches are artists themselves, their collaboration was fab :)
June 13th 2012 at 10:14am(+2 likes)
Danny cohen seems quite sharp though don't know if he would let this project flop another year running he's said that they have learnt lessons and it'll come back stronger. He's trying to do something fresher with the channel through the voice even if its not a complete success
June 13th 2012 at 8:58am(+1 like)
Oh dear, the BBC look desperate now with their latest statement, all because no one is talking about the show since it finished and the winners single has flopped in the charts.
Look at Fame Academy - 3 series and dropped when they hit a low of 3.3m, and see how much spin they put on that show - this is the same mistake they're making, another 2 series and it will be dropped regardless how hard they try to revamp the show. The BBC will never make the grade like XFactor and BGT.
June 12th 2012 at 10:41pm(+3 likes)
But the two runners up have had more success? - bore off.
June 12th 2012 at 11:04pm
The BBC needs to stop trying to compete with ITV and focus on original programming. Danny Cohen should admit that The Voice was a production mess and because the format is much more rigid than the X Factor, there is not a lot of room for improvement.
June 12th 2012 at 11:22pm(+2 likes)
Who cares about the two runners up, have they got to number 1? No. Stop defending a show that's already failing, the UK audience has already spoken by switching off.
June 13th 2012 at 8:18am
Maybe you should think before commenting. The winner's single wasn't promoted or even labelled "winner's single" due to the BBC's contract rules for the show, that's why it flopped. Also, ratings don't lie; a series average of nearly 10 million, beating the launch series of X-Factor, I'm A Celeb and Strictly. And almost 10 million tuned in for the final. Series average 9m, highest launch ratings in UK reality TV history; really seems like people are switching off, doesn't it. So yeah, think before you comment.
June 13th 2012 at 9:02am(+3 likes)
At the end of the day it flopped because it was unoriginal and dull (though I did keep watching). The fact that its debut beat the X Factor is so insignificant as before the Xfactor, there was only Pop Idol before and there was not a lot of demand for music talent shows. Plus because the X Factor has dominated for so long people wanted something fresh which they thought they had at the blind auditions but it wasnt maintained at the live shows at all. Without Pop Idol and XFactor, there would be no Voice and guess where those two programmes came from? Anyway I'm not sure where u got the contract rules thing from because why would the BBC buy a music talent show when they can't promote any of the artists - that makes no sense whatsoever. If ur getting 4.49 million in the week before the final, there is clearly a problem.
June 13th 2012 at 12:26pm(+1 like)