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For NBC's 'Voice,'
a hard act to follow

Last year's surprise hit returned in the cushiest of timeslots

By Louisa Ada Seltzer
Feb 6, 2012

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Last night's second-season premiere of "The Voice," airing right after the Super Bowl, undoubtedly drew millions of viewers who haven't seen the show before.

The question is how many of them will return tonight at 8 p.m., when "Voice" moves into its new timeslot opposite some tough competition on the other Big Four networks.

"Voice" was last year's biggest surprise.

It was the No. 1 new show and the No. 2 reality show overall last year, behind only "American Idol," averaging a 4.9 adults 18-49 rating, according to Nielsen.

Though some critics dismissed the show as just another "Idol" ripoff, viewers liked the fresh twist on the singing show concept. In "Voice," the judges' chairs are turned away from the auditioners, so they make their decisions based solely on the quality of the singer and not on any physical attributes.

Critics also noted that while "Idol" brought in two older judges whose musical peaks were well behind them, "Voice's" judges were younger and hipper, including Cee Lo Green and Blake Shelton.

Still, there is a worry that "Voice" will see ratings dip in its second season simply because of the plethora of singing shows now on the air. Fox's "The X Factor" failed to live up to ratings expectations last fall and recently went through a cast shakeup to try to revive the show.

And "Idol" is down more than 25 percent this year, in its 11th season.

Plus "Voice" is facing much tougher competition than last year, when it aired in the 10 p.m. hour. Now it's up against CBS's powerful comedy lineup, ABC's long-running "The Bachelor" and Fox's "House" and "Alcatraz."

But there's little doubt even a diminished "Voice" will give NBC a boost. The network is tied for third place this season with a 2.5 average.

A look at this week’s top TV draws
MONDAY, FEBRUARY 6
Time	Network	Program	Description
8 p.m.	CW	"Gossip Girl" (D)	Blair ponders a decision about her future.
8 p.m.	NBC	"The Voice" (R)	Blind auditions continue. How much will the show benefit from the post-Super Bowl slot?
9 p.m.	CBS	"Two and a Half Men" (C)	Walden gets Zoey to try Berta's special brownies.
9 p.m.	Bravo	"Real Housewives of Beverly Hills" (R)	The second installment of the three-part season two reunion.
10 p.m.	ABC	"Castle" (D)	Castle and Beckett look at a 1947 murder case that's somehow related to a current case.
10 p.m.	NBC	"Smash" (D)	Series premiere. Musical drama revolving around a Broadway show.
10 p.m.	Discovery Channel	"First Week In" (R)	Season finale. A Vietnam war vet tries to adapt to prison life.
TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 7
Time	Network	Program	Description
7 p.m.	ESPN	"College Basketball" (S)	SEC matchup between Florida and Kentucky.
8 p.m.	CBS	"NCIS" (D)	In the show's 200th episode Gibbs reflects on the choices he's made--while he had a gun pointed at his face.
9 p.m.	ABC	"The River" (D)	Series premiere. A documentary crew searches for a missing TV explorer.
9 p.m.	Bravo	"Real Housewives of Orange County" (R)	Season premiere. Vicki finalizes her divorce and starts a new relationship.
9:30 p.m.	A&E	"Shipping Wars" (R)	Season finale. Roy gets excited to haul
10 p.m.	Oxygen	"Jersey Couture" (R)	Season premiere. The mom and boyfriend of client end up in a fight over a dress.
WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 8
Time	Network	Program	Description
8 p.m.	CBS	"Person to Person" (N)	Charlie Rose and Lara Logan interview George Clooney, Warren Buffett and Jon Bon Jovi.
8 p.m.	Fox	"American Idol" (R)	The Hollywood round gets underway.
9 p.m.	NBC	"Rock Center with Brian Williams" (N)	Moves to a new night and timeslot.
9 p.m.	Showtime	"Inside the NFL" (S)	Season finale. Putting an end to the NFL season.
10 p.m.	BBC America	"Mistresses" (D)	Season finale. The women deal with a shocking death.
10 p.m.	Food Network	"Restaurant: Impossible" (R)	Season premiere. Irvine tries to make over a failing restaurant in Ohio.
THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 9
Time	Network	Program	Description
8 p.m.	Fox	"American Idol" (R)	Another Hollywood round episode.
8 p.m.	NBC	"30 Rock" (C)	The first of back-to-back Valentine's Day-themed episodes.
8:30 p.m.	Showtime	"On the Shoulders of Giants" (N)	Documentary about an all-black basketball team in the 1940s.
9 p.m.	ABC	"Grey's Anatomy" (D)	Lexie and Mark both have to babysit on Valentine's Day.
9 p.m.	History	"Swamp People" (R)	Season premiere. First episode of the season promises plenty of alligators.
10 p.m.	MTV	"Jersey Shore" (R)	J-Woww has BF drama when Roger won't return her calls.
FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 10
Time	Network	Program	Description
7 p.m.	USA	"NFL Characters Unite" (A)	Football personalities tell their tales of discrimination.
8 p.m.	ABC	"Shark Tank" (R)	Inventions include a towel used for changing bathing suits and a combination sweater-quilt.
8 p.m.	ESPN	"NBA Basketball" (S)	The Lakers take on the Knicks in New York.
9 p.m.	CBS	"CSI: NY" (D)	Two seemingly random deaths turn out to be related.
10 p.m.	Animal Planet	"Confessions: Animal Hoarding" (R)	A man secretly keeps way too many dogs in a junkyard.
10:30 p.m.	ESPN	"NBA Basketball" (S)	Western Conference matchup between the Thunder and Jazz.
SATURDAY, FEBRUARY 11
Time	Network	Program	Description
1 p.m.	CBS	"College Basketball" (S)	Big East rivalry game between Connecticut and Syracuse.
2 p.m.	NBC	"Winter Dew Tour" (S)	The season-ending Toyota Championship featuring men's snowboarding.
3 p.m.	CBS	"PGA Golf" (S)	Tiger Woods should help boost ratings for the Pebble Beach National Pro-Am.
6 p.m.	ESPN	"College Basketball" (S)	Good Big Ten matchup between Michigan State and Ohio State.
8 p.m.	Fox	"America's Most Wanted" (N)	Special "Crimes of Passion" edition.
10:30 p.m.	DIY	"The Bronson Pinchot Project" (R)	Series premiere. Is that Balki? Yes, yes it is.
SUNDAY, FEBRUARY 12
Time	Network	Program	Description
3 p.m.	CBS	"PGA Golf" (S)	Final round from Pebble Beach, which of course will do well if Tiger's in contention.
3:30 p.m.	ABC	"NBA Basketball" (S)	Good Eastern Conference game between the Bulls and Celtics.
8 p.m.	CBS	"Grammy Awards" (A)	The 54th annual ceremony, hosted by LL Cool J.
9 p.m.	AMC	"The Walking Dead" (D)	The second half of season two has Rick trying to calm things down a bit.
10 p.m.	Discovery Channel	"The 9/11 Tapes: Chaos in the Sky" (N)	A new look at the Sept. 11 attacks.
10:30 p.m.	HBO	"Angry Boys" (C)	Season finale. Blake gives surfing another try.
A = awards show or special, C = comedy, D = drama, DD = daytime drama, G = game show, K = kids, M = movie, N = news/documentary, R = reality, S = sports, T = talk/variety show.