A new season of The Voice is about to premiere on the 2024 TV schedule, but as we all know, that’s far from the biggest event happening this fall. The United States is set to elect a new president in November, and it looks like the leadup to Election Day is going to impact our regularly scheduled programming. The Voice is one of the shows that’s going to see some scheduling craziness, as Michael Bublé and Snoop Dogg make their debuts in the Big Red Chairs alongside reigning champ Reba McEntire and returning coach Gwen Stefani.
Debates And Election Coverage Will Affect The Primetime TV Schedule
The TV schedule as a whole will be affected by upcoming debates between presidential candidates Kamala Harris and Donald Trump and their running mates, Tim Walz and JD Vance. ABC will host the presidential debate on Tuesday, September 10, but according to The Futon Critic, programming on all major networks — including CBS, NBC and Fox — will be replaced that night by coverage of the debate.
Each network will air an election special of some kind at 8 p.m. ET, with the debate between Donald Trump and Kamala Harris starting at 9 p.m. ET.
We can expect the same interruptions to our Tuesday night programming on October 1, when the vice presidential hopefuls face off. Again, one-hour election specials will air on ABC, CBS, NBC and Fox at 8 p.m. ET before all four networks show the debate between JD Vance and Tim Walz.
Then there’s the actual Election Night coverage, and if you’re not looking to see states turn blue and red on Tuesday, November 5, I wouldn’t even bother turning the TV on.
How The Voice Season 26 Will Be Affected
While election-related programming is going to keep many Tuesday primetime options off the schedule for a few weeks, The Voice is particularly thrown into turmoil since it typically airs episodes on both Monday and Tuesday nights. For Season 26, which premieres Monday, September 23, only one episode per week will air until after the October 1 vice presidential debate, TV Insider reports.
So we’ll get the first two Blind Audition episodes on Mondays (September 23 and 30) before jumping back into Monday/Tuesday episodes on October 7 and 8. As well, The Voice will not air a new episode on Election Night, which is Tuesday, November 5.
I was really hoping that The Voice would bring back the Live Playoffs for Season 26, but I can’t help but wonder if the scheduling craziness is going to prevent that from happening. I’m also dreading another season full of recap episodes. But those are small gripes, because overall I’m really excited to see this new mix of The Voice coaches, and not to look too far into the future, but I’m super stoked for Adam Levine’s return coming in 2025 to The Voice Season 27.
Everything in its own time, though, and right now TV viewers will want to keep a close eye on the calendar so as not to be caught off guard by election coverage pre-empting your favorite Tuesday night shows. The Voice kicks off at 8 p.m. ET Monday, September 23, on NBC and episodes can be streamed the next day with a Peacock subscription.
