BBC loses its Voice to ITV after it opts out of bidding war
THE popular Saturday night television show The Voice is leaving the BBC and heading for ITV.
Mark Linsey, acting director of BBC Television, said it had refused to get involved in a bidding war to keep hold of the singing competition.
The move follows criticism from John Whittingdale, the Culture Secretary, who has held up The Voice as an example of the way the corporation squanders licence fee payers’ money.
Referring to the BBC’s original purchase of the rights to the series for £20million, Mr Whittingdale said: “The
Voice has been very popular, but the fact it was contested between the BBC and ITV, the result was to force up the money paid for it.”
The Culture Secretary has also described the series as “way outside the definition of what I call public service broadcasting”.
The Voice starts a fifth series on BBC1 in January, but Mr Linsey said this will be the last one shown on the channel. An estimated 8million people watched the final show of the last series.
The corporation did make a bid to re- tain the rights to the series, it is understood, but walked away from the process when ITV offered “substantially more” money.
Mr Linsey said: “The BBC is incredibly proud of The Voice but the fifth series which starts in January will be our last. We always said we wouldn’t get into a bidding war or pay inflated prices to keep the show. It’s testament to how the BBC has built the programme up – and established it into a mainstay of the Saturday night schedule – that another broadcaster has poached it.”
The BBC’s royal charter expires at the end of 2016 and Mr Whittingdale is leading a review of the corporation’s size and scope, and its right to levy a licence fee.
A BBC source said: “We have to be careful with licence fee money and we didn’t think it was in viewers’ interests to pay over the odds.”
The fifth series began filming in September, with singers Boy George and Paloma Faith replacing Tom Jones and Rita Ora on the judging panel, joining will.i.am and Ricky Wilson.
ITV declined to comment.