‘The Voice’ UK loses premiere to Simon Cowell, Ant & Dec on ITV

In news that surely must be making Simon Cowell jump up and down with “Glee,” he managed to defeat the premiere of “The Voice” UK on Saturday, even though he was not even airing one of his own flagship series against it.

Instead, an appearance by the “X Factor” creator and music mogul on the prank show “Ant & Dec’s Saturday Night Takeaway” ended up drawing a total of 6.7 million viewers on ITV during the entirety of its airing, whereas the return of Jessie J, will.i.am, and company to BBC One brought in on average 6.2 million. The actual time-by-time comparison between the two shows was even more dramatic, as the “Voice” UK numbers are inflated by its peak audience of 8.2 million, which it drew after the talk show ended on the other network. (Ultimately, this means that many people were opting to watch both shows.)

For “The Voice” UK, this is a pretty significant drop from the 8.4 million people who watched the series premiere last year, and it was a significant rival to “Britain’s Got Talent.” We have a feeling that the show was pushed up this year to avoid that competition, as Cowell’s talent show launches in a couple of weeks. The problem here is just that the format of the spinning-chairs show simply floundered overseas after the blind auditions, and the reigning champ Leanne Mitchell has yet to do anything at all with her victory. It will be interesting, however, to see if these viewers end up staying put for the whole season; if they do, you have to label “Voice” UK as a success.

As for Cowell, check out the prank he played on Piers Morgan on “Saturday Night Takeaway” below; meanwhile, you can read our full review for the “Voice” UK premiere here.

Photo: BBC One