‘The Voice UK’ premiere ratings almost equal to most-recent ‘X Factor’ season

Before this season of “The Voice UK,” something that many on-air and behind-the-scenes personalities were touting was that this show was higher-rated than its rival “The X Factor.” After seeing the official ratings for the season 5 premiere, we’re not sure they should really be bragging about that anymore.

Overall, “The Voice” drew around 7.12 million viewers on BBC, which is only about 10,000 more than the 7.1 million that the ITV singing competition drew in the fall. While “The Voice” can claim a slight victory, we feel there’s a caveat here: “The Voice” generates the bulk of its viewers from the first several weeks. The Blind Auditions are the high point of the series, and it is all downhill from there. One of the reasons why the winners never really go on to accomplish much is because the live rounds are extremely limited, and there is not much time for viewers to get to know individual contestants. Thanks to that and the lack of an interesting gimmick, the ratings tend to drop.

We’ll keep watch on some of the ratings throughout the year, since something we are very interested in is seeing how the rise in competition and the carryover from many streaming services impact total UK viewership. The nation still sees enormous market shares for many of its original programming, the likes of which America has not had in a generation. Will this last, or will many shows be forced into cost-cutting measures once they realize that they no longer have such a hold over the population? We’ve certainly seen many steady drops for shows over the past year or so.

If you missed our review of “The Voice UK” premiere from Saturday, our advice is simple: Head over to the link here right away!

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