Buying The Voice was a ‘masterstroke’: Channel 7

The Voice will be the “biggest show in 2022”, according to Channel 7.

The network hyped up its returning show at its recent Upfront presentation and said picking up the format from rival Channel 9 was a “masterstroke”.

“Nothing delivered like The Voice,” said Seven West Media CEO and managing director, James Warburton. “Yes, The Voice. Remember that show that was too old and tired? Well it’s the #1 entertainment show in 2021… The Voice was the show Australians wanted and the show Australians needed in 2021.”

The reference to the show being ‘old and tired’ was a dig at rival Channel 9, which let the show go after a nine-year run in 2020.

At the time, Channel 9 issued a sassy statement about Seven’s decision to pick up the format.

“Unfortunately due to the age of the show and declining demographic profile, The Voice had become by far the poorest financial performer on our slate. We wish Seven well in their quest to revive yet another Nine show,” a spokesperson said.

Host of the revived The Voice as well as this week’s Upfront, Sonia Kruger, also referenced the perception the show was a lost cause.

“A little over a year ago, I got a phone call from James Warburton, and he said ‘Sonia, for your birthday this year, I got you The Voice’. I didn’t know what to say, honestly, because I thought James was having an episode.

“Turns out, James is completely mentally stable, which, as we know, is unusual for the CEO of a major media company. Buying The Voice was a masterstroke,” she said.

“Seven had picked up a show that others said was finished and breathed life into it. The Voice was back, bigger and better than before.”

Coach Guy Sebastian, who has appeared on both the Channel 7 and Channel 9 iterations of the show, said its success this year was quite incredible.

“We feel like it was the right show at the right time, full of positivity, and we can’t wait to bring it back in 2022 with even more incredibly talented Aussies.”

Newly recruited coach Jessica Mauboy said you can’t ignore how Australians engaged with the show this time around.

“The audience was up 45% nationally year-on-year, and every episode averaged more than 2 million viewers. And the Grand Final, well, it was even bigger. It was Seven’s most successful entertainment format since 2016, and the highest Voice series average since 2015.”

A voiceover, further hyping up the show, added: “Australians wanted it. Needed it. It was time to get the feeling. And boy did they answer our call. The Voice got back to what makes it great, making it Australia’s #1 show with the highest ratings in six years. Australia turned their chairs in their millions to TV’s biggest juggernaut.”

Next year, Channel 7 will run two series of The Voice – the standard series and The Voice: Generations.