Anyone keeping tabs on singing competitions may know The Voice opted to move from its summer slot to a fall programming schedule, overlapping with Fox’s singing show, The X Factor during part of last night's scheduled programming. Wednesday night was The X Factor’s Season 2 premiere, as well as an added third episode of the The Voice during its premiere week. The two battled it out, but both were down a bit, potentially due to airing opposite one another.
The X Factor Season 2 premiere was tied with The Voice in the 18-49 demographic by the end of the night, with both pulling a 3.3 rating overall. However, The Voice killed it when it came to the 8-9 p.m. ET ratings, when both shows aired opposite one another. During that hour, The Voice nabbed a 3.3 rating, and The X Factor—which is lacking in swivel chair power—only pulled in a 2.7 rating. On top of this, Deadline is reporting these numbers are down 21% from the Fox show's Season 1 premiere last year.
It’s not all bad news for Simon Cowell’s big show, though. The Voice tacked on a third episode for premiere week, so the program won’t always air during The X Factor’s Wednesday and Thursday night schedule. Despite both shows having four judges, The Voice and The X Factor are focused on offering quite different appeal elements for fans. There should totally be room in the schedule for both, and I expect both program’s ratings to improve as fans settle in to the fall schedule and decide whether the gimmicky appeal of the red chairs or the unabashedly catty behind-the-scenes footage appeals to them more.
