Mark Sweney 

The Voice live final: Kylie Minogue fails to boost appeal as ratings plummet

'Princess of pop' says she is unsure about rejoining BBC show for second series as audience figures fall by 600,000
  
  

Kylie Minogue, The Voice 2014
Kylie Minogue was brought in as a judge alongside Kaiser Chiefs frontman Ricky Wilson. Photograph: BBC/WalltoWall/PA Photograph: BBC/WalltoWall/PA

The final of BBC1 talent show The Voice attracted and average of 6.6 million viewers on Saturday night, down 600,000 on the audience that tuned in to last year's finale.

The live final of The Voice, which saw judge will.i.am's protege Jermain Jackman triumph, managed a five minute peak audience of 8.3 million and a 30.7% share of the total TV audience between 7pm to 9.05pm.

Last year's final attracted an average of 7.2 million viewers, a five minute peak audience of 8.7 million and a 34.8% share of viewing.

Kylie Minogue, brought in as a judge alongside Kaiser Chiefs frontman Ricky Wilson to help boost the appeal of the show, has said she is still unsure about rejoining The Voice for a second series.

It was a case of horses and high notes for the British public as Channel 4's coverage of the Grand National matched The Voice, with a 15 minute peak audience of 8.3 million tuning in to watch Pineau De Re win between 4.15pm and 4.30pm.

Channel 4 will be happy with stable viewing figures compared to its debut last year – the race has traditionally been broadcast by the BBC - when a peak audience of 8.4 million watched.

Channel 4's afternoon of coverage running from 1pm to 5.15pm averaged 2.8 million viewers and a 24% share of viewing.

""For the viewing figures to top eight million for the second year in a row is testament to the quality of the coverage from the Channel 4 Racing team," said Jamie Aitchison, Channel 4's commissioning editor for sport.

The final of the latest series of ITV show Ant & Dec's Saturday Night Takeaway drew an average of 5.95 million viewers and a 27.7% share between 7pm and 8.25pm. Viewing peaked at 6.9 million.

Channel 4's Marvel's Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D produced less than heroic viewing figures as a result of the stiff competition in its time slot.

The show, which aired from 7.10pm to 8.05pm, drew an average of just 387,000 viewers, a 1.8% share, and a peak of 540,000.

All ratings are Barb overnight figures, including live, +1 (except for BBC channels) and same day timeshifted (recorded) viewing, but excluding on demand, or other – unless otherwise stated. Figures for BBC1, BBC2, ITV, Channel 4 and Channel 5 generally include ratings for their HD simulcast services, unless otherwise stated

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