The Voice Australia returns with 1.012m metro viewers on Sunday
The Voice Australia returned to Nine for its ninth season on Sunday night, drawing 1.01 million overnight metro viewers, equalling its 2019 premiere.
It ranked the highest non-news show and third highest program of the night, ranking #2 in all demographics up against Masterchef Australia on Ten.
Media Week editor James Manning told TMN the premiere delivered good news for viewers, but he said the result of last night’s ratings will be “mixed” for Nine.
“The program did make it over one million and was the #1 entertainment program of the night with 1.012m. However, it was the third successive year the program has just managed to make it to one million,” said Manning.
“In 2018 The Voice launched with 1.029m and then in 2019, the series started with 1.011m.”
The Blind Auditions launched to a strong start with the first few singers enjoying chair-turns from all four coaches: Kelly Rowland, Guy Sebastian, Delta Goodrem and Boy George.
It’s the first time in the show’s history that all four coaches from a previous season have signed on for a second with last night’s voices and stories emotional enough to keep viewers hooked.
Having Rowland in tears was Stella Perry who nailed her performance with a powerful rendition of Lady Gaga’s ‘Always Remember Us This Way’, joining Team Delta.
Television insider and TV Blackbox editor, Rob McKnight, told TMN there will be “sighs of relief” this morning at Nine’s Willoughby headquarters.
“Nine are really in the zone when it comes to commissioning and programming shows people want to watch,” said McKnight.
The infamous past “rifts” between the coaches is amped up with a new process called The Block, which allows them two chances to stop another coach from pitching for a contestant.
Original host Darren McMullen is back in the role after Sonia Kruger’s return to Seven, accompanied by a new face this season, Renee Bargh.
Although season eight delivered a fairytale ending for Diana Rouvas, the series again left the global franchise without a bonafide pop star in the Australian market.
The last grand final pulled 991,000 overnight metro viewers in 2019, making it the third most-watched program of the evening, just behind Seven News and Nine News.
However, almost one million viewers weren’t enough to propel Rouvas into the pop charts.
Her winner’s single ‘Wait For No One’, which went straight to DSPs after the finale, was a flop. The track failed to break the Top 500, shifting less than 800 units during release week.
As first reported by TMN, Rouvas left longtime manager Karen Lee-Goody in February and signed a new deal with Media Talent Management, helmed by Courtney and Titus Day.