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Sad news for The Voice fans! NBC just announced that starting Season 21, only one cycle of the singing reality TV competition will air every year.
Since its inception in 2011, NBC has always released two cycles of The Voice every year. The first cycle typically aired in the spring and the second cycle aired in the fall.
But for Season 21, The Voice will air new episodes every Tuesday night. And after the season wraps up, the program won’t return for Season 22 in February or March.
Frances Berwick, the chairman of Entertainment Networks, NBC Universal Television, and Streaming, explained their decision to only release one cycle of The Voice every year.
“Going into the 21st cycle in the fall, The Voice remains one of the most popular shows on television and we want to keep it that way. We want to eventize this iconic series. We think The Voice will be on NBC for a very long time to come and we believe the best way to protect the brand, while also super-serving fans are to produce one amazing cycle this year,” she said.
Prior to the announcement, there were reports that the ratings for The Voice Season 2 have considerably dropped.
According to TV Series Finale, the sudden dip in ratings isn’t surprising because, after Season 18, the reality TV competition only aired once a week. Years ago, the program aired twice a week.
During the Season 20 premiere, only 7.8 million viewers tuned in to the program. And during this week’s episode, only 6 million viewers watched The Voice.
Beyond all these changes, there are more repercussions following the network’s decision to only release one cycle per year that will affect the coaches and the contestants.
How the coaches’ salaries will be affected
It is no surprise that the fewer the cycles, the lesser the salaries of the coaches will be.
Kelly Clarkson, Blake Shelton, and John Legend will all return to The Voice Season 21. They will be joined by newcomer Ariana Grande in the upcoming installment.
Grande is the highest-paid coach on The Voice thus far with her $20 to $25 million salary.
Clarkson, on the other hand, makes as much as $15 million per season on The Voice. Shelton makes $13 million per season, and Legend also makes $13 million per season.
If their contracts are renewed for two cycles per year, Grande, Clarkson, Shelton, and Legend's salaries are instantly doubled.
Unfortunately, only one cycle per season will air on NBC starting Season 21. So, even if their contracts are renewed, they will only get half of what they are usually getting from coaching on the show.
One winner per year
Since The Voice will only release one season per year, there will also be only one winner. Those who win the title bring home $100,000.
In the past, The Voice invests $200,000 on their two winners per year because there used to be two cycles. Now, there’s only one winner who will still bring home $100,000.
On top of the cash prize, the winner of The Voice also gets a recording contract.
The truth about stipends
The contestants on The Voice also get a small stipend to help fund their journey on the show.
Former contestant Tristan Shields previously told Cheat Sheet that they didn’t get paid while competing on the show. But they received a small stipend during their time in the competition.
The publication said that the stipend must have been used for the contestants’ lodging, food, and plane tickets.
By the looks of it, The Voice isn’t just cutting their cycles to save the program and ensure that their fans will still be hooked on the show for many more years to come. It seems that the program and NBC are cost-cutting.
According to Cheat Sheet, The Voice is one of the reality TV competitions in the United States that are in dire need of their contestants. In fact, they scout for them instead of waiting for artists to audition on the show.
However, The Voice is also one of the few shows that don’t support their contestants while competing on the show. Other reality TV shows like Big Brother give houseguests $750 for every week that they are on the show. This is on top of the $500,000 grand prize that the winner gets to bring home.
America’s Got Talent also pays some of their contestants $30,000 for a 90-minute performance. However, the same cannot be said about The Voice.
Source: Deadline, TV Series Finale, Cheat Sheet
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