The Voice Gets Heard

Talpa Media’s Dutch talent format The Voice Of… has struck a chord with viewers in the U.S., drawing the attention of the global market.

The coveted post-Super Bowl spot in 2012 on NBC has been given to The Voice, a singing competition that has put its own spin on the talent genre. The show is just winding up its freshman season in the U.S., but has already proved such a ratings hit that it was picked up last month for second run. The prime placement of post-Super Bowl is sure to drum up even more exposure for the show: FOX hosted the Super Bowl earlier this year and gave the spot to its breakout hit Glee, which became the top scripted telecast in three years. In 2010, CBS hosted the Super Bowl and scheduled Undercover Boss right after it, which became the most-watched reality-show debut ever.

The Voice, which features Christina Aguilera, Blake Shelton, Cee Lo Green and Adam Levine as coaches, is based on a Dutch format from John de Mol’s Talpa Media. The original version, The Voice of Holland, generated big ratings in the Netherlands, with market shares of up to 65 percent, becoming the best-rated talent show ever in Dutch history.

"The Voice of Holland is the next step in talent shows, where the focus is solely on true talent," explains Maarten Meijs, the managing director of Talpa Distribution. "No more painful auditions or hopeless wannabes. During the unique blind auditions, talents are selected on the sound of their voice alone. The coaches (top artists from the country) are seated in chairs with their backs turned towards the stage. When they’re convinced of the talent’s voice they can press the ‘I want you’ button to select them for their team. Only after they select the talent, their chair will turn towards the stage and they will see who will be their new protégé."

He continues: "After selecting a team of talents, the top artists will coach them to become the country’s future superstars. The next step in their music journey is the battles, where talents are put in a boxing ring to show what they’re worth vocally. The coach needs to eliminate one talent from their own team after each battle. Only the best talents are selected to perform during the spectacular live shows, where the coaches, together with the audience, will decide who will be the next voice of the country!"

The format was sold to a number of countries well before the first season aired in Holland. NBC launched the first international version, but closely following are Germany, Belgium, Turkey, Ukraine and Poland, among others.

"The fact that we were able to close a deal in the U.S. so soon is great and we value NBC’s trust in The Voice Of… a lot," says Meijs. "We’re convinced that it will help risk-averse buyers to move faster. Fortunately, the format was already picked up by many broadcasters all over the world who did not need a U.S. commission to convince them that this is the next big thing."

Meijs adds that Talpa is considering selling the U.S. finished program in some countries, but is more focused on adapting the format locally.

"There are many elements that make this show different from the existing talent shows," notes Meijs. "If we need to pinpoint one element, the most striking perhaps is the blind auditions, which bring a totally new feel to the talent genre."

The two-hour debut of The Voice on NBC featuring the blind auditions pulled a 5.1 rating/13 share in the 18-to-49 demo, with 11.8 million viewers. The Voice premiered as the number one show of the night in that same demo, beating out stiff competition from Dancing with the Stars and Glee. The vocal competition posted the highest debut ratings in the 18-to-49 set for a new series on any network in more than a year. The show has continued its strong performance, hitting a series high of 14.4 million viewers last week.