Will Live Nationwide Voting Help ‘American Idol’ Ratings Catch Up To ‘The Voice’
Trae Patton/NBC Reading Time: 2 minutes
Both The Voice and American Idol continue to slip in the ratings. Therefore, the networks have implemented strategies they hope will recover viewership.
The Voice took top spot in the ratings on Monday April 1st, 2019 for adults 18-49 and in total viewership. Although they had the highest ratings at 1.5 with 8.42 million viewers, they were still down from last week.
American Idol also took a hit from the previous week when they posted the ratings at 1.1 with 6.21 million viewers. This is a new low for the ABC show, and they continue to trail behind The Voice in the ratings.
Recently American Idol announced the extension of their “simul-vote” system which they hope will reign in additional viewers. On Sunday April 14th the show plans to roll out their new strategy and continue to the finale.
The show will be simulcast coast-to-coast at the same time across all time zones, and viewers will be able to vote live. Viewer interaction is vital to gaining an audience these days, and ABC gives the viewers what they want. American Idol hopes that this implementation will put them above The Voice and push them back up in the ratings.
Being a savvy competitor, NBC responded in kind with “Live Cross Battles” starting in 2 weeks. The Voice has already used this strategy abroad and now they are testing the waters the U.S.
As opposed to the standard knockout rounds, the Cross Battles invite two contestants from different teams, to battle it out on live TV. Instead of the coaches making the deciding vote, viewers at home will vote to see who moves on.
NBC thinks that matching American Idol with a similar strategy should keep them at bay in the ratings, while The Voice grows.
Can American Idol climb out of their rut and catch up to ratings on The Voice? To find out watch American Idol Sunday at 8pm, and The Voice Monday at 8pm.
