The Voice will only air in the fall next season
This is huge news we did not see coming! NBC announced that The Voice is cutting back to one cycle for the coming season! It’s the first time that’s happened since 2012. Only the second season of The Voice occured one year after the previous season. The ratings were too good to resist double cycles every season. And actually, that strategy worked until it didn’t.
The Voice has seen its ratings fall this season. Across both cycles and both nights on which it airs, the series has slipped by more than 25 percent in adults 18-49 and about 12 percent in total viewers.
The 21st season will air this fall, featuring Blake Shelton, Kelly Clarkson, John Legend and pop superstar Ariana Grande sitting in the big red chairs.
Frances Berwick, chairman entertainment networks at NBCUniversal Television and Streaming, told reporters Friday that the decision to scale back to one season will help protect the franchise.
NBC wants to “eventize” The Voice
“We want to eventize this iconic series,” Berwick said. “The best way to protect the brand while super-serving fans is to produce one amazing cycle this season.” That was FOX’s strategy way back in the early aughts when it decided to air it’s ratings blockbuster, American Idol, only once a season. And that strategy worked for many years, until the rating began a free fall after the disastrous Nicki Minaj/Mariah Carey season in 2013. FOX canceled American Idol, airing the final season 15 in 2016. ABC revived the series beginning in 2018.
Coming midseason: AGT: Extreme and American Song Contest
However, the absence of The Voice in spring 2022 does not mean the lack of talent shows mid-season. The schedule starting in January will include AGT: Extreme, the high-octane, stunt-filled spinoff of hit franchise America’s Got Talent. The show already airs across the pond, and will feature Simon Cowell as one of the judges. And also, for the first time, the network will feature an adaptation of the biggest music competition in the world, Eurovision Song Contest, with American Song Contest. This all-live event series features original musical performances, representing all 50 states, five U.S. territories and our nation’s capital, competing to win the country’s vote for the Best Original Song in a grand spectacle.
Predicting now that American Song Contest will start after AGT Extreme and fill Monday’s usual The Voice time slot.
NBC Fall 2021-2022 Schedule
MONDAY
8 pm The Voice
10 pm ORDINARY JOE
TUESDAY
8 pm The Voice
9 pm LA BREA
10 pm New Amsterdam
2021-22 TV Preview: All the New Comedies, Dramas & Unscripted Shows
Fall TV Preview 2021
Launch List
WEDNESDAY
8 pm Chicago Med
9 pm Chicago Fire
10 pm Chicago P.D.
THURSDAY
8 pm LAW & ORDER: FOR THE DEFENSE
9 pm Law & Order: SVU
10 pm Law & Order: Organized Crime
FRIDAY
8 pm The Blacklist
9 pm Dateline NBC
SATURDAY
8 pm Drama Encores
9 pm Dateline Saturday Night Mystery
10 pm SNL Encores
SUNDAY
7 pm Football Night in America
8 pm Sunday Night Football
