THE VOICE (NBC)
Scheduling history: Season one of The Voice aired mostly on Tuesday, with a couple Wednesday results shows at the end of the season. Since then, it's mostly moved into the regular season and been a Monday/Tuesday fixture. The Tuesday results show has gone back and forth between 8:00 and 9:00 a bunch of times, and it returned to 8:00 starting in winter/spring 2014 to lead into new scripted series.
See (who saw) how it all began: NBC rushed its new singing competition The Voice on the air right at the end of the 2010-11 regular season, looking to get the jump on Fox's similar upcoming The X Factor. And The Voice drew considerable interest right out of the gate, premiering to 11.78 million viewers and a 5.1 demo rating on 4/26/11. Its second week of auditions actually spiked to a 5.7 demo, but it dropped from there to a fairly consistent mid-4's level for the rest of the season, with its Wednesday results shows dipping into the 3's.
The best of times: After the success of season one, NBC was determined to make The Voice a regular season fixture. And like CBS with Survivor, they had some big help: a post-Super Bowl airing. Season two premiered after the big game with a whooping 16.3 demo, and it turned that audience into a massive 6.7 for its regular slot premiere the next day. The audience bailed rather quickly in subsequent weeks, but the early boost meant it was the show's biggest season on the main night in raw numbers.
The worst of times: Most seasons of The Voice have dropped pretty significantly over the course of the season, and that effect has become more pronounced in the show's later seasons. Season 16 in spring 2019 brought the show's most disturbing drops yet, including some journeys into fractional territory for the results episodes on 4/23/19, 4/30/19 and 5/7/19. Its first ever 0.9 on a main night came a year later, on 5/11/20.
Then vs. now: The Voice has been nothing short of a game-changer for NBC as a network. Its double season in 2012-13 was pretty much the only big reason why the network became somewhat competitive again. And like other reality staples of the past, it's helped the network create a scripted supporting cast as well, boosting shows like The Blacklist, Chicago Fire and eventually a megahit in This Is Us.
It's had a tendency to keep raising questions about its long-term viability because it drops so much in the second half of the season, but it also keeps answering those questions by premiering very well. Overall, the show has mostly stuck pretty close to the rate of league average decline, which is perfectly fine for something of this size (but a worse trend than many of the other reality staples). Unless it can start on an upward trajectory again, the ultimate story seems to be that The Voice's assist to NBC was a miniature version of what Idol did for Fox. But given where NBC was a few years ago, that's not at all insignificant.
Adults 18-49 info by season:
| Seas | Year | Slot | Avg | y2y | Lo | Hi | Results | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Spring 2011 | Tuesday 9:00 | 4.58 | 3.3 | 5.7 | detail | ||
| 2 | Spring 2012 | Monday 8:00 | 4.82 | +5% | 3.5 | 6.7 | detail | |
| Tuesday 9:00 | 3.61 | 3.1 | 4.4 | |||||
| 3 | Fall 2012 | Monday 8:00 | 4.38 | 3.7 | 4.8 | detail | ||
| Tuesday 8:00 | 4.08 | 3.0 | 4.9 | |||||
| 4 | Spring 2013 | Monday 8:00 | 4.14 | -14% | 3.2 | 5.2 | detail | |
| Tuesday 8:00 | 3.79 | +5% | 2.8 | 4.6 | ||||
| 5 | Fall 2013 | Monday 8:00 | 4.02 | -8% | 3.3 | 5.1 | detail | B |
| Tuesday 8:00 | 3.65 | -10% | 2.5 | 4.7 | ||||
| 6 | Spring 2014 | Monday 8:00 | 3.55 | -14% | 3.0 | 4.7 | detail | C |
| Tuesday 8:00 | 3.18 | -16% | 2.5 | 4.1 | ||||
| 7 | Fall 2014 | Monday 8:00 | 3.35 | -17% | 2.5 | 4.1 | detail | C |
| Tuesday 8:00 | 3.07 | -16% | 2.3 | 4.1 | ||||
| 8 | Spring 2015 | Monday 8:00 | 3.08 | -13% | 2.3 | 4.1 | detail | C+ |
| Tuesday 8:00 | 3.02 | -5% | 2.0 | 4.1 | ||||
| 9 | Fall 2015 | Monday 8:00 | 3.12 | -7% | 2.6 | 3.5 | detail | B+ |
| Tuesday 8:00 | 2.80 | -9% | 2.1 | 3.7 | ||||
| 10 | Spring 2016 | Monday 8:00 | 2.50 | -19% | 2.0 | 3.4 | detail | C |
| Tuesday 8:00 | 2.34 | -22% | 1.6 | 3.1 | ||||
| 11 | Fall 2016 | Monday 8:00 | 2.50 | -20% | 2.0 | 3.3 | detail | B |
| Tuesday 8:00 | 2.52 | -10% | 1.8 | 3.4 | ||||
| 12 | Spring 2017 | Monday 8:00 | 2.22 | -11% | 1.8 | 3.1 | detail | |
| Tuesday 8:00 | 2.02 | -14% | 1.5 | 2.6 | ||||
| 13 | Fall 2017 | Monday 8:00 | 2.10 | -16% | 1.7 | 2.6 | detail | B- |
| Tuesday 8:00 | 2.04 | -19% | 1.7 | 2.7 | ||||
| 14 | Spring 2018 | Monday 8:00 | 1.94 | -13% | 1.5 | 2.8 | detail | C+ |
| Tuesday 8:00 | 1.70 | -16% | 1.2 | 2.4 | ||||
| 15 | Fall 2018 | Monday 8:00 | 1.73 | -18% | 1.4 | 2.1 | detail | C+ |
| Tuesday 8:00 | 1.67 | -18% | 1.4 | 2.2 | ||||
| 16 | Spring 2019 | Monday 8:00 | 1.50 | -23% | 1.1 | 2.1 | detail | C- |
| Tuesday 9:00 | 1.21 | -29% | 0.9 | 2.1 | ||||
| 17 | Fall 2019 | Monday 8:00 | 1.31 | -24% | 1.1 | 1.7 | detail | C+ |
| Tuesday 8:00 | 1.29 | -22% | 1.0 | 1.6 | ||||
| 18 | Spring 2020 | Monday 8:00 | 1.42 | -5% | 0.9 | 1.8 | detail | B |
| Tue 8:00, Tue 9:00 | 1.03 | -15% | 0.9 | 1.4 | ||||
| 19 | Fall 2020 | Monday 8:00 | 0.97 | -26% | 0.8 | 1.2 | detail | C |
| Tuesday 8:00 | 0.98 | -25% | 0.7 | 1.1 | ||||
| 20 | Spring 2021 | Monday 8:00 | 0.84 | -40% | 0.6 | 1.1 | detail | C- |
| Tue 9:00, Tue 8:00 | 0.78 | -24% | 0.6 | 1.0 | ||||
| 21 | Fall 2021 | Monday 8:00 | 0.83 | -14% | 0.7 | 1.1 | detail | B+ |
| Tuesday 8:00 | 0.83 | -15% | 0.7 | 1.1 | B+ | |||
| 22 | Fall 2022 | Monday 8:00 | 0.67 | -19% | 0.6 | 0.7 | detail | B- |
| Tuesday 8:00 | 0.65 | -21% | 0.6 | 0.7 | B- | |||
| 23 | Spring 2023 | Monday 8:00 | 0.55 | 0.4 | 0.7 | detail | B- | |
| Tuesday 9:00 | 0.48 | 0.4 | 0.5 | B- | ||||
| 24 | Fall 2023 | Monday 8:00 | 0.52 | -23% | 0.4 | 0.6 | detail | C |
| Tuesday 9:00 | 0.51 | -22% | 0.4 | 0.7 | ||||
| 25 | Spring 2024 | Monday 8:00 | 0.42 | -24% | 0.2 | 0.5 | detail | C |
| Tuesday 9:00 | 0.37 | -24% | 0.3 | 0.4 |
Historical-adjusted ratings by season:
| Seas | Year | A18-49+ | Label | Now24 | y2y | Lo | Hi | Premiere | Finale |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Spring 2011 | 180 | big hit | 0.68 | 130 | 224 | 201 | 146 | |
| 2 | Spring 2012 | 204 | megahit | 0.77 | +13% | 148 | 284 | 284 | 161 |
| 153 | big hit | 0.58 | 131 | 186 | 135 | 186 | |||
| 3 | Fall 2012 | 208 | megahit | 0.79 | 176 | 228 | 199 | 199 | |
| 194 | big hit | 0.73 | 142 | 233 | 190 | 233 | |||
| 4 | Spring 2013 | 197 | big hit | 0.75 | -4% | 152 | 247 | 228 | 176 |
| 180 | big hit | 0.68 | +18% | 133 | 218 | 195 | 209 | ||
| 5 | Fall 2013 | 213 | megahit | 0.81 | +3% | 175 | 271 | 271 | 175 |
| 194 | big hit | 0.74 | +0% | 133 | 250 | 250 | 212 | ||
| 6 | Spring 2014 | 189 | big hit | 0.72 | -4% | 159 | 250 | 250 | 170 |
| 169 | big hit | 0.64 | -6% | 133 | 218 | 196 | 175 | ||
| 7 | Fall 2014 | 199 | big hit | 0.75 | -7% | 149 | 244 | 244 | 167 |
| 182 | big hit | 0.69 | -6% | 137 | 244 | 244 | 196 | ||
| 8 | Spring 2015 | 183 | big hit | 0.70 | -3% | 137 | 244 | 244 | 155 |
| 180 | big hit | 0.68 | +7% | 119 | 244 | 232 | 172 | ||
| 9 | Fall 2015 | 214 | megahit | 0.81 | +8% | 179 | 240 | 240 | 220 |
| 192 | big hit | 0.73 | +5% | 144 | 254 | 240 | 199 | ||
| 10 | Spring 2016 | 172 | big hit | 0.65 | -6% | 137 | 233 | 233 | 137 |
| 161 | big hit | 0.61 | -10% | 110 | 213 | 206 | 151 | ||
| 11 | Fall 2016 | 204 | megahit | 0.78 | -4% | 163 | 269 | 269 | 180 |
| 206 | megahit | 0.78 | +7% | 147 | 278 | 278 | 204 | ||
| 12 | Spring 2017 | 181 | big hit | 0.69 | +6% | 147 | 253 | 253 | 163 |
| 165 | big hit | 0.63 | +2% | 122 | 212 | 212 | 155 | ||
| 13 | Fall 2017 | 192 | big hit | 0.73 | -6% | 159 | 240 | 240 | 183 |
| 186 | big hit | 0.71 | -10% | 156 | 246 | 246 | 186 | ||
| 14 | Spring 2018 | 178 | big hit | 0.67 | -2% | 136 | 254 | 254 | 138 |
| 155 | big hit | 0.59 | -6% | 114 | 215 | 215 | 138 | ||
| 15 | Fall 2018 | 182 | big hit | 0.69 | -5% | 147 | 217 | 214 | 155 |
| 175 | big hit | 0.67 | -6% | 144 | 228 | 228 | 183 | ||
| 16 | Spring 2019 | 157 | big hit | 0.60 | -11% | 119 | 221 | 221 | 125 |
| 127 | hit | 0.48 | -18% | 96 | 216 | 216 | 113 | ||
| 17 | Fall 2019 | 160 | big hit | 0.61 | -12% | 132 | 212 | 212 | 148 |
| 158 | big hit | 0.60 | -10% | 117 | 193 | 190 | 157 | ||
| 18 | Spring 2020 | 173 | big hit | 0.66 | +10% | 116 | 220 | 188 | 124 |
| 125 | hit | 0.48 | -1% | 113 | 166 | 166 | 115 | ||
| 19 | Fall 2020 | 150 | big hit | 0.57 | -6% | 124 | 190 | 190 | 140 |
| 151 | big hit | 0.57 | -4% | 109 | 175 | 168 | 140 | ||
| 20 | Spring 2021 | 131 | hit | 0.50 | -24% | 96 | 172 | 172 | 109 |
| 120 | solid | 0.46 | -4% | 87 | 149 | 144 | 123 | ||
| 21 | Fall 2021 | 162 | big hit | 0.62 | +8% | 137 | 212 | 212 | 143 |
| 162 | big hit | 0.61 | +7% | 129 | 214 | 214 | 137 | ||
| 22 | Fall 2022 | 157 | big hit | 0.60 | -3% | 141 | 169 | 157 | 162 |
| 153 | big hit | 0.58 | -6% | 131 | 171 | 171 | 155 | ||
| 23 | Spring 2023 | 130 | hit | 0.49 | 98 | 174 | 162 | 113 | |
| 113 | solid | 0.43 | 101 | 117 | 117 | 115 | |||
| 24 | Fall 2023 | 136 | hit | 0.52 | -13% | 108 | 158 | 158 | 121 |
| 134 | hit | 0.51 | -12% | 103 | 171 | 171 | 140 | ||
| 25 | Spring 2024 | 110 | solid | 0.42 | -15% | 66 | 137 | 137 | 108 |
| 97 | marginal | 0.37 | -14% | 84 | 108 | 108 | 105 |
The War of 18-49 chronicles the ratings history of veteran primetime series. For more, see the Index.
3 comments:
I just love the voice. BTW, just out of curiosity, was this the voice best season in TRUE terms? I think the summer airing kind of hurts its raw numbers when comparing it to a fall season
I'm not sure about past seasons, but the current version of True definitely thought that the spring/summer 2013 season was stronger than the fall 2012 one. It definitely seems much more difficult to try to air the second half of the season in a time of year when people are predisposed to turning off their TVs (early summer), rather than a time when people are turning them on (late fall).
Yeah that's what I thought and what I also figured when I scrolled through your archive pages ;) Thanks!
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