The Voice United Kingdom has never really done THAT well on the BBC anyway – do you think ITV has what it takes to make The Voice United Kingdom a roaring success? “It’s a sad day, because it’s a BBC show”.
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ITV have apparently been bidding with offer to air The Voice in 2017, with a deal expected to be signed in days.
The public service broadcaster has previously launched a defence of popular programming like The Voice and The Great British Bake Off, saying that licence fee payers expect the BBC to “deliver entertainment”.
In August, Mr Whittingdale questioned whether bidding for the programme – said to have cost £55m – was a “good use” of licence-payers’ money.
What we do know is that The Voice United Kingdom will air on the BBC in 2016 as normal, but after the 2016 series comes to a close, the format then belongs to ITV.
“The BBC has had no choice but to walk away”, a source said.
Bosses have also promise to match the £11million-a-series costs, plus a spin-off shows, including a version just for children, and potentially a behind the scenes show on ITV 2, like the Xtra Factor. However, the BBC has now been forced to hand over the rights to the Voice United Kingdom after the Conservative government has called for the BBC to save over £100 million a year.
The BBC is set to ditch talent show The Voice in the face of pressure to shake up its programming output, it has been reported.
Hall has said it is “inevitable” that services will have to be closed as a result, with proposals due to be published by the BBC before the end of the year.
When the BBC last renewed its deal for the show, thought to be two years ago, a senior executive with the programme-makers said they chose to go with the BBC rather than ITV for “creative reasons”.
Following next year’s fifth season, The Voice will officially be ITV’s for the taking.
ITV’s own Saturday night singing contest, The X Factor, is still one of its biggest- rating shows but audiences have been in decline since 2010 and have continued to fall despite the introduction of Radio 1 DJ Nick Grimshaw and former Voice coach Rita Oraas judges.
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A spokesperson for the BBC said only: “We wouldn’t comment on negotiations”.
