Reality TV

'The Voice' would have been in 'X Factor's shadow, says ITV

Published Friday, Aug 26 2011, 20:43 BST | By Alex Fletcher | 7 comments

ITV's director of television Peter Fincham has said that he is happy for the BBC to have landed the rights to hit talent show The Voice.

The BBC won a bidding war for the reality series, which has been a success for NBC in the US, earlier this year. It will air in early 2012 on BBC One.

Talking at the Media Guardian International Edinburgh Television Festival, Fincham claimed that he could understand the reasons behind the producers opting to work with the BBC.

"We certainly had conversations," he said. "I wish [the BBC] luck with The Voice. We have The X Factor, the biggest singing talent show in the UK.

"We're well stocked in these big talent shows. We talked to the people selling it. If I was them, I would have gone to the BBC. They wouldn't want to be in X Factor's shadow and they probably would have been.

"If there's room for another big singing talent show, it is on BBC One."

> Meet The Controller: Peter Fincham - MGEITF Live Blog