Britainâs Got Talent got another thrashing from audience magnet The Voice on Saturday night – a result which has no doubt set Cowellâs decision to retreat from head-on rating war in stone.
Last week Cowell announced that from Saturday 21 April, BGT would be moved into the 8.30 slot on ITV to avoid the 20-minute overlap with the BBC show.
This still seems to be a wise move for the talent search competition with Saturday nightâs show revealing an average of 11.8 million viewers tuning into the BBC1 talent show, with just 5.8 million watching BGT.
That said, ITV chiefs will have been pleased with a series peak of 12.2 million tuning into the show which features David Walliams Simon Cowell, Amanda Holden and Alisha Dixon as judges. Overall, this figure represented the highest audience concentration of the night, with The Voice peaking at 12.1 million.
But as far as the competition between these two entertainment goliaths are concerned, itâs all about the crossover.
Next week will represent a further challenge to the loyalty of viewers of the new BBC format. Those infamous red chairs will be removed and the competition will be transformed into a âbattleâ? between duelling acts from each coachâs team. There are now 40 competitors remaining â 10 for each judge â with a further 20 to face the chop before the next round begins.
And heavens, if you missed it. The final contestant to be put through on the “blind auditions” joined will.i.amâs team, and his performance of âThe A-Teamâ? had our sensitive coaches (and half of the Twitter-sphere) in tearsâ¦
