‘The Voice’ could be axed by the BBC.
The singing competition – which has featured coaches including Sir Tom Jones, Kaiser Chiefs frontman Ricky Wilson, Black Eyed Peas singer will.i.am and Rita Ora – could be cancelled as a new government review of the BBC’s output gets underway.
The Conservative party’s Culture Secretary John Whittingdale is to oversee the review and according to The Sunday Times newspaper his main issue is that the corporation spends too much money on producing programmes provided by other broadcasters, with ‘The Voice’ being singled out as the clearest example of this.
A source told Digital Spy: "Let’s see what the green paper says, but the BBC doesn’t nakedly chase viewers, but we do seek to make the good popular, and the popular good.
"Research has shown that an element of competition drives up quality across the industry. The voice of the public will be key and they will have their own view about the merits of BBC programmes like ‘Strictly’ [Come Dancing] and ‘Sherlock’."
A green paper is to be released on Thursday (16.07.15) for the discussion of the BBC’s role for parliament to debate, which will influence the show’s survival.
A spokesperson for the BBC said: "The BBC’s mission is to entertain as well as to inform and educate, and millions enjoy entertainment on the BBC every week. Of course there will be debate during Charter Review, but the BBC is here to serve everyone and it’s important the voice of viewers and listeners is heard."
The Voice UK to be axed by BBC?
