This year, the Nine Network have decided to pit their ratings hopeful, The Voice, up against Seven’s proven juggernaut, Australia’s Got Talent. With the latter at its peak popularity but the former lighting up screens abroad, exactly what can viewers expect from this looming battle?
This year, we saw Nine’s Excess Baggage go up against Ten’s The Biggest Loser; a battle between two like-shows which saw one absolutely smash the other. In this case, Ten’s The Biggest Loser had the advantage of a strong fan base, years of experience and an early start. Still, Excess Baggage had the advantage of a fresh start, a good lead in and a f***-ton of promotion.
There are many similarities between the just-gone battle of the bulge, and the upcoming battle of the voice; however there are also many different factors.
When The Voice and Australia’s Got Talent begin, they’ll be doing so in the same week. The Voice will actually be airing before Australia’s Got Talent, and has the advantage of being launched on Nine’s (and television’s) night of nights. It will also benefit from what should be a good Block lead in on Tuesday and Wednesday.
To me, this is the best thing The Voice has going for it. That, and possibly some very good promotions, which has captured me more than those of Australia’s Got Talent based on the fact that we can actually hear the singing, and feel the emotion, of the contestants. Australia’s Got Talent’s promotions are just too ‘sneak peak-y’ for me.
But, if The Biggest Loser’s longevity and fan-base could have helped it beat Excess Baggage, then surely Australia’s Got Talent’s phenomenal fan base, which just seems to grow and grow at unprecedented rates, can help it trump out Nine’s new offering. It also has a persistent 7.30pm start time. The Voice, as we know, begins at different times every night in its first week. What we saw from The Renovators, inconsistent start times are not a good sign.
But could it be possible that Australia’s Got Talent is getting too old? While it may not be showing the decline other reality television shows succumb to, its demise is inevitable, and more than likely, this year could be the beginning of the end…oh, how pessimistic I know!
To judge how each show is going, it will be important to see how the two shows go when they are head to head with each other. Reason being? In the UK, where Britain’s Got Talent (also currently in its sixth season) and The Voice (also currently in its first season) are running up against each other, an odd pattern is forming.
While Britain’s Got Talent regularly pips The Voice in final ratings, this is only because the two shows ONLY OVERLAP FOR 20 MINUTES. During that 20 minute period, Britain’s Got Talent is actually beaten soundly by The Voice.
For example, just last week, Britain’s Got Talent scored 10.28 million viewers to The Voice’s 9.0m. However, in their overlap, The Voice actually grabbed 9.8m to BGT’s 7.0m. This week, the third week of this competition, The Voice has actually pipped BGT with 9.54m to 9.43m. Britain’s Got Talent was saved from being beaten overall because of good figures from ITV1′s (the channel on which it airs) +1 catch up service. (source: Digital Spy)
But as you can probably tell, there are a lot of differences to the way Britons and Australians view their reality television. In the UK, both shows only air once a week; and both air at consistent timeslots. They also air on Saturday’s, which wouldn’t benefit Australians at all.
But if this proves anything, it is that Australia’s Got Talent will have a fight on its hands. My prediction? I actually think The Voice will win. It’s inconsistent timeslot is more than made up for by its brilliant promotion, strong panel and the amount of hype generated. Ideally, this will be a tight battle, just to make things interesting.
So what do you think? Who will win; The Voice, or Australia’s Got Talent? Which will you be watching? And what will this do to MasterChef Australia’s audience?
The Voice begins on Nine Sunday April 15 at 6.30pm. Blogs to be provided by Loz.
Australia’s Got Talent begins on Seven Monday April 16 at 7.30pm Blogs to be provided by Alicia B.
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