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How Seven blindsided Nine and swooped on The Voice

Nine execs wanted to keep The Voice, but CEO Hugh Marks did not. And Seven's James Warburton was ready to pounce.

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EXCLUSIVE: It will go down as one of the great coups in TV programming….  just why did Nine let The Voice go and what went down in TV backrooms that allowed Seven to sign it?

Now it can be revealed.

As one network CEO made the captain’s call to cancel The Voice, another CEO pounced and turned it into a 2021 hit.

Twelve months ago Nine CEO Hugh Marks was on an analysts’ call announcing financial results, in which he indicated the $40m cost of The Voice was no longer viable.

“You’ll see some of those high-cost shows be replaced by some other initiatives that … will come in at lower cost,” he said in August 2020.

When Marks went public, it was something of a shock to Nine execs who wanted to keep the show and who fully expected another network to swoop on it.

While Marks was effectively settling an internal argument and signalling Nine was walking away, Seven CEO James Warburton was also listening in.

Nine execs were forced to call ITV Studios Australia CEO David Mott to tell him Nine couldn’t accommodate The Voice.

Little did they know, Seven’s James Warburton was ready to make an offer.

What followed was a 24-hour turnaround in meetings with Seven securing the format the following afternoon.

Two days later, in a classic case of Reality TV blindsiding, Seven publicly announced they secured the show through the press, with Sonia Kruger back as host.

That left Nine little room to save face.

A network spokesperson said, “Unfortunately, due to the age of the show and its declining demographic profile, The Voice had become by far the poorest financial performer on our slate.

“We wish Seven well in their quest to revive yet another Nine show.”

Yet Warburton’s deal with David Mott had also effectively cut format costs in half, with fewer episodes and no Live shows. It sent a clear message to freshen up the show -focus on the talent, ditch the feuding judges.

12 months later after heavy promotion throughout the Olympics it has landed in the middle of the lockdowns, proving just the tonic for weary viewers grasping for optimism.

The gamble by James Warburton will go down as one of his best moves as newly-installed Seven CEO.

TV critic Colin Vickery told TV Tonight, “The Voice is an expensive show to make and Nine’s last season was hit hard by COVID interruptions and skewed old in the ratings. You can understand why the network might at least review its options.

“That said, it should have had a really good idea for a replacement before thinking of letting it go – especially at a time when James Warburton had made it clear he was on the hunt for established formats.”

Seven’s timing with the Olympics has been fortuitous, and it was able to film the show with a studio audience earlier this year -something Nine wasn’t able to achieve in 2020.

With so many unknown factors, there’s no guarantee the show would draw the same ratings had it remained on Nine.

“On Seven, there is the halo effect from the Olympics, and the refresh with new mentors including Jessica Mauboy and the return of Keith Urban has also been a major plus,” says Vickery.

“Seven has also made a number of production and format tweaks so that the filming schedule is quite different to how it was on Nine – shorter and sharper. And they have the bonus of a live studio audience.”

TV historian Andrew Mercado said, “Seven got lucky – it’s as simple as that. The Lockdown Olympics got record audiences and running promos for The Voice and other Seven shows is now paying off big time.”

Indeed it is, with every episode at over a million metro viewers it is now the biggest series in 2021.

With Hugh Marks since having moved on from Nine, Warburton’s version of The Voice looks like having the last word, on track for its biggest Grand Final in years.

“The worry for Nine right now is that The Voice is hurting The Block,” says Vickery. “If that were to continue it would significantly dent Nine’s chance of winning the ratings year.”

18 Responses

  1. Any season of this show without Delta is an immediate plus. Got so sick of her “antics” on the show…yeah they all did it, but she was by far the worst. Credit where credit is due – Seven have pulled a rabbit out of the hat with The Voice 2021, lots of things aligned to create a winner…more people at home due to lockdowns, promos interrupted by some Olympics coverage helping build awareness, format changes, judge refresh. Interesting comparing Nine’s comment now….Surely a contender for Blunder of the Year in the TVT Awards.

  2. Seven’s revised format can’t hide the fact that the last time The Voice generated an artist with even minor commercial success was years ago. No local Voice participant has ever gone on to significant commercial or artistic success. Seven may be able to crow about their timing and how great the ratings are, but will this season finally deliver on the judges’ endless promises of superstardom to their teams? If not, isn’t The Voice kinda defeating its own purpose?

    1. And who might that artist be? I too am glued to the show despite never ever anywhere in the world- not just Australia- making a successful artist. All other of the reality talent shows have. And I laugh about it’s about the artists this year no it’s even more about the judg.. sorry ‘coaches’. Especially th3 fact that we the public can’t even vote and hav3 to put up with their bad decisions.

  3. For me, I have no problem with the voice on 7. Usually I avoid channel 7. I just wish they’d find someone other than Sonya to host. I’d love to see 10 try to get a talent show, maybe X factor or maybe even avatar if it does ok in the USA. Something fresh – I don’t know how 7 will do with the voice snd idol next year. Could be too much in one network

  4. I’m surprised it’s done so well on Seven. I used to watch at least the blind auditions on Nine, but I’ve had no interest in seeing it on Seven. But then I have been invested in Survivor.

  5. “Getting lucky” is often mistaken for “capitalising on an opportunity”. While there are admittedly hints of luck here, this seems far more like the latter to me. If you don’t take the opportunity in the first place, then there is no chance that luck will be on your side later.

  6. After the blinds I lose total interest in the show, I want to see the great Australian talent but then sadly very few if any from the voice go anywhere. I’ve always found the judges song choices can play against the singer. I’m sure it’s great adrev for 7 and that’s what it is all about. As for the CEO in the end it’s about the $$ if this was costing 9 $40mil was it worth it in the end, like you say 7 got a bargain.

  7. Nine was busy worrying about The Voice but ignored the issues with The Block probably because it is largely financed through product placement. This means they have failed to refresh what is rapidly becoming a very tired format, with annoying contestants, houses few can ever hope to afford and judges who haven’t changed their schtick in years.

  8. Seven will be lucky if the ratings stay the same, Olympics halo clearly helped…I think the answer is to keep refreshing the judges every season. But if they have 2 series of it next year, it will be too much!

  9. Seems to be a recurring thing with this CEO. This season of The Voice has had the best talent yet. Doesn’t need the “All Stars” gimmick to work. It needed a refresh of coaches which imo has worked. If rumours of Delta coming back next year are true, i feel like it’s a step back. One thing i will be critical of Seven though is the format they went with, might hurt it going forward. It might come back to bite them if they go with the format they’ve put up this year. Blinds are awesome but the cuts were awful. Cutting each team down to just 5 and then the knockouts 5 to 2 is just as bad. No steals or saves either, it makes what started as a great season, turn into rubbish. Majority of people on social media from what i’ve seen, hate what they’ve done with it. We don’t want short, sharp seasons. We actually want to hear the singers and what they bring to the table but i guess we will see what Seven do next year.

    1. Yes, they’ve got to get rid of the cuts next time…I’ve enjoyed the refresh this year, although I’m not against Delta coming back. She still brings a lot of experience to the contestants.

  10. If 7 wanted to go that extra step they’d make sure the winner of the series actually becomes a star, unlike the 9 version where the winners other than the first season basically disappeared out of sight, I’m sure that hurt the credibility of the show too while it was on 9

  11. a few decisions made by Nine before the exchange of CEO have left a number of their staff perplexed. The decision to leave SCA to go back to WIN was met by a lot of staff confused as to why, when the then affiliation deal seemed to be going along well, if you are to believe stories from inside the Nine bunker in Sydney, Melbourne and Brisbane. The Voice being dumped is another example of that. Well done to Seven for picking up the scraps.

  12. Not withstanding some luck around the pandemic situation, the harsh reality for Nine is that the show is overall substantially better this year. The judges have come across as sincere and constructive in their criticism and are all likeable-leave the bickering for the other reality shows. Personally, this is the first season I’ve watched properly for about 4 or 5 years. Hopefully channel 7 don’t get greedy and push for more viewers at the expense of the quality product they have produced!

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