Hold your horses ITV, the Beeb hasn’t given up on The Voice just yet… Bosses have tabled a £22 million bid to hang on to the talent show after initially saying they wouldn’t get into a bidding war with ITV…
Oo-er!
The whopping amount for a two year deal, comes in defiance of Government pressure to drop the show.
Culture Secretary John Whittingdale recently singled it out as the sort of expensive show the corporation should ditch.
But this week the BBC revealed they have made their “final offer” to keep the show.
Although The Voice originated on BBC1, it is made by production company Talpa Media, which is owned by ITV.
A source said: “This whole situation is ridiculously complicated. The BBC have made a bid, which they won’t raise, but it is unclear as to who will make the final decision.
“If it’s ITV, they may be some way off sealing the deal.”
Judges for series five were recently announced as Ricky Wilson, Boy George, Paloma Faith and Will.i.am and auditions have already been filmed.
But the show has had a troubled year.
Former judge Sir Tom Jones hit out at TV bosses after they dumped him by email the day before announcing the new judge line-up.
A computer error meant that ALL The Voice hopefuls were rejected after their auditions, leading to a frantic scramble to get some contestants back.
And the grand final of the last series pulled in just 6.3m viewers — the lowest since the show launched in 2012.
The Voice is planned to air on BBC America later this year.
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