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So did ITV or BBC win the war of the talent shows? The jury's out...

 

Nick Clark
Monday 26 March 2012 09:48 BST
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The Voice and Britain's Got Talent (BGT) have both claimed victory in the ratings battle to be Saturday night's top TV talent show.

This weekend saw the debut of the BBC's new primetime show whose judges, include Jessie J, Tom Jones and will.i.am. It pulled in a peak audience of 9.8 million viewers, with an average of 8.4 million throughout. The BBC said the performance blew away the debuts of Strictly Come Dancing, BGT and The X Factor by almost 3 million. Yet it came up against the ITV behemoth BGT, whose judges include Simon Cowell and Alesha Dixon.

BGT won the battle for overall ratings as it attracted a peak audience of 12.2 million. The average was 9.9 million. The BBC claimed victory for the period that the two shows went head-to-head. In the 20 minutes after 8pm, The Voice averaged 8.9 million viewers, almost 2.5 million more than its rival on ITV.

ITV hit back saying that if it excluded the performance of its soap operas, BGT was the best-rated show of the year.

* A 29-year-old woman has been charged with aggravated burglary after allegedly breaking into the Simon Cowell's home. Leanne Zaloumis, of Catford, south-east London, was due to appear at West London Magistrates' Court today after allegedly forcing her way into the property in Holland Park, west London, at 10.30pm on Saturday. Cowell was reportedly at home.

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