The Voice UK's move from BBC1 to ITV appears to have failed after overnight viewing figures indicated a big drop in viewers
The Voice UK’s first ever final on ITV suffered a drop of nearly one million viewers compared to last year’s series final on BBC1.
An average audience of 3.6 million watched as Mo Adeniran was crowned the winner of the sixth series in the chaotic live episode on Sunday, which also saw coach Sir Tom Jones swearing and a fan storming onto the stage.
In comparison, last year’s final on BBC1 scored an average of 4.5 million viewers, according to overnight figures.
Despite the lower average, the singing competition – which aired for one hour from 7pm on Sunday night – hit a peak of 4.6 million viewers.
Saturday evening’s episode in the two-part conclusion had fared better, with an average of 4.4 million viewers watching the broadcast from 8.30pm until 10.20pm.
The Voice UK moved to ITV last year after the BBC decided not to enter a bidding war for another series despite screening the programme since 2012.
Sir Tom returned to the show after being dropped the previous year, while newcomers Jennifer Hudson and Gavin Rossdale completed the line-up with Will.i.am, the only coach to have appeared on every series.
While ITV suffered a drop in the ratings with The Voice UK, popular drama series Vera won the ratings battle against the BBC’s Line Of Duty.
The two-hour-long episode of Vera, which screened directly after The Voice UK, was watched by an average of 5.5 million. Rival crime series Line Of Duty gained an average of 5.1 million in its 9pm slot, according to overnight data.
The BBC’s long-running factual programme Antiques Roadshow stayed steady in the ratings with 5 millionviewers watching from 8pm.
