For the past eleven seasons, NBC's The Voice hasn't done anything extreme to change up its core competition format, with some exceptions like Twitter Saves. But the vocally-driven series is doing something completely different for this season's first live playoff show, and it's something many fans have been wanting for years. Next week, for the very first time, The Voice will offer up real-time voting and real-time results. So your 2 a.m. voting session is going to have to be postponed.
That's right, everybody watching The Voice on Monday, November 7, will get the opportunity to see the Top 20 contestants giving it their all for the chance to move into the Top 12, which will coincide with the first real-time voting through either Twitter or The Voice's official app.And then, by the end of the night, the fans' votes will allow two viewers from each coach's team to advance to the next round. I wonder if that'll be a good thing or a bad thing for the performers' nerves, knowing they won't have to wait a full day to find out their fates.
As regular viewers of The Voice are aware, each week usually sees a Monday night full of performances meant to convince viewers who is worthy of moving forward, with the following hours meant for fans to get their voting on. Tuesdays are usually for results, as well as more performances, but you guys might have noticed that this year is one of those special times where we get to vote for the President of the United States of America. So this is really all less about The Voice giving fans a new experience and more about a solution to NBC airing Election Night coverage all Tuesday evening.
But even though the producers were somewhat backed into a corner in this instance, that doesn't take away from the real-time voting concept being totally genius. The Voice hasn't been killing it in the ratings in recent years, which is understandable for any long-lasting series, and this is the perfect way to try to secure as big an audience as possible on such short notice. It could help build up future viewership, too, if it works.
Not that we should expect The Voice to use this tactic on a regular basis. After all, one night of really good ratings probably can't completely balance two nights of decent ratings, so NBC execs likely want to keep the two-night format for as long as possible. But if it's still on the air in 2020, then we might see the process repeated.
To reiterate, The Voice will give viewers' their first real-time results show on NBC next Monday, November 7, at 8:00 p.m. ET, and you'll be able to watch the remainder of the live phase of the competition on Monday and Tuesday nights in the weeks after. To see what else is coming to the small screen, check out our fall TV schedule.
