The Voice UK narrowly beats Let It Shine in ratings

Updated

The Voice UK has narrowly pipped rival singing competition Let It Shine in the ratings, a week after both shows launched.

ITV series The Voice - featuring celebrity coaches Will.i.am, Jennifer Hudson, Sir Tom Jones and Gavin Rossdale - was watched by an average of 5.4 million viewers on Saturday night, peaking at 6.3 million.

The show, which used to air on the BBC, claimed an average 25.7% share of viewers for its time slot after airing at 8pm.

Over on BBC1, an average of 5.3 million viewers tuned in to see Take That star Gary Barlow, former X Factor judge Dannii Minogue, Spandau Ballet's Martin Kemp and Glee's Amber Riley hunt to fill the cast of a new musical on Let It Shine.

The ratings peaked at around 5.7 million viewers, and the show's share of the audience was 26.7% when it aired at 7pm.

The Saturday night talent programmes kicked off on an almost even footing last week when an equal number of viewers tuned in to the launch shows.

Both programmes - which overlapped for half an hour on the television schedule - peaked at just under seven million viewers.

:: Let It Shine will be broadcast every Saturday at 7pm on BBC1, The Voice UK will also return at 8pm on Saturday on ITV.

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