Channel 7 smashes Nine in ratings after winning the rights to The Voice

Channel 9 issued a vicious public statement when Seven first nabbed the rights to The Voice. Now, the network’s words have come back to bite.

Channel 7 are reaping the rewards of nabbing The Voice from rival network Channel 9, in a move that prompted a surprisingly catty response from the network last year.

The singing talent show premiered to its largest audience in five years on Sunday night, backing up that successful launch with another win on Monday night against Nine’s The Block and Ten’s Survivor.

It comes after Channel 9 had scoffed at Seven in a statement last year issued after news broke that Seven had poached the franchise.

“Unfortunately due to the age of the show and its 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 network spokesperson scathingly said after Seven secured the rights in December.

Now that ratings are in, they may be eating their words.

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Keith Urban, Rita Ora, Jess Mauboy and Guy Sebastian make up the coaches panel on Seven’s revamped version of The Voice. Picture: Jonathan Ng.

With a revamped format and all-star judging panel comprising Rita Ora, Jess Mauboy, Guy Sebastian and Keith Urban, plus Sonia Kruger as host, ratings have skyrocketed.

On Sunday, over 1.3 million Aussies in metro cities tuned in to the premiere episode, airing just after the closing ceremony of the Olympics.

The reality show blitzed The Block Fans vs Faves premiere on Channel 9 which opened to 747,000 viewers, a surprisingly soft number for the popular renovation show, which premiered to 947,000 viewers last year. Meanwhile, Survivor on Channel 10 pulled in 609,000 metro viewers on Sunday night.

The following night, the second episode of The Voice pulled in 1.162 million viewers metro, dominating The Block with 627,000 and Survivor with 618,000.

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Former The Voice judges Boy George, Delta Goodrem and Kelly Rowland lost their gigs with Nine – with Guy Sebastian the last one standing.

Last year on Nine, metro premiere ratings for The Voice were at 1.082 million, compared with 1.064 million in 2019, 1.072 million in 2018 and 1.277 million in 2017, which means this year’s premiere result is the best in five years.

“We are delighted with how The Voice is performing,” a Seven spokesperson told news.com.au today.

“Our reinvention of the show has been a triumph and proven what we always knew: that The Voice is one of the greatest TV brands in the world.

“Keith, Rita, Guy, Jessica and this year’s remarkable artists are doing an amazing job, and the series just keeps getting better from here,” they added.

Jess Mauboy during Sunday’s The Voice premiere.

Channel 7 managed to score the program after Nine failed to renew it within the required time frame for another season.

Network bosses vowed to slash production costs to $20 million, which is half of what Channel 9 is rumoured to have spent on the show.

TV Blackbox reported in October last year that at least $10 million of Seven’s budget would go towards securing a megastar coach, though at the time it’s understood they were trying to lock down Mariah Carey.

They also promised the show would have a “tighter format adapted for latest viewing trends”.

British singer Rita Ora has joined the panel this year.

So far, the new coaches have been blown away by the level of talent onstage.

On Monday night, the panel couldn’t believe their eyes when they turned their chairs to see a 12-year-old girl performing a moving rendition of Billie Eilish’s Lovely and an Indian classical number.

Janaki Easwar from Melbourne is the youngest artist to ever audition on the Aussie version of the TV singing competition, leaving all four celebrity judges with jaws dropped and eyes teary, earning her a standing ovation.

“A lot of other artists are twice my age, three times my age, sometimes even four times my age,” Janaki said to the camera.

“It’s scary thinking I’m the youngest here.”

The performance that followed left Jess and Rita stunned.

Aussie singer Jess then gave her pitch, telling Janaki that she reminded her of a younger version of herself, and felt a connection to her given her own background.

“You just remind me of me. I also didn’t realise how much existed inside of me and you have that power too. I would love to hold your hand and be your coach,” she said.

Janaki eventually chose Team Jess.

The Voice continues 7.30pm Tuesday on Seven