After much speculation over its future, the BBC have finally confirmed that the next series of The Voice United Kingdom will be their last – and that the show is heading elsewhere.
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Acting director of television Mark Linsey confirmed that the BBC would not be keeping the format beyond 2016 after refusing to “pay inflated prices”.
‘The BBC is incredibly proud of The Voice, but the fifth series which starts in January will be our last, ‘ Linsey said.
The commercial broadcaster is understood to have also agreed to show a children’s version called The Voice Kids for performers aged eight to 14.
Four years ago, ITV lost out to the BBC in a bidding war for the originally Dutch TV show, spending £20 million.
Creator of the show, John de Mol, who is responsible for the popular show Big Brother, owns the production company Talpa, which was bought by ITV for £355m earlier this year. This now means that ITV Studios will make the programme from 2017, rather than current producer Wall to Wall.
A source revealed at the time: “We’d really like to hang on to The Voice, it’s a brilliant show and viewers love it, but we won’t get into a bidding war with ITV”. That announcement never came. The fifth series of the flagship Saturday night show will run on BBC1 in January.
The new series will see singers Paloma Faith and Boy George join Will.i.am and Ricky Wilson in the spinning red judges’ chairs, with former coach Rita Ora having jumped ship to ITV’s The X Factor.
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After the fifth series is aired next year, the programme will fall into the hands of one of the BBC’s major rivals. “Is that a good use of the licence payers’ money?” The Mirror reports that ITV are “desperate for a new Saturday night hit” following the “dismal performance” of X Factor this year.
