The Voice may find a new home on television if ITV takes over the singing contest from the BBC, it has been reported.
It is understood that the show is contracted to the BBC for one more series, after the corporation paid a reported £22m in 2013 to renew its deal.
However, the corporation is under pressure after the licence fee deal agreed with the government last month, as well as criticism from MPs over the cost of buying foreign formats such as The Voice.
The show has also been hit by the departure of judge Rita Ora for ITV rival The X Factor, joining talent show supremo Simon Cowell, Cheryl Fernandez-Versini and Radio 1 DJ Nick Grimshaw.
This was not the first time Cowell poached talent from his BBC rivals, notably taking Alesha Dixon from Strictly Come Dancing to Britain’s Got Talent, and he has also gone to the BBC for Grimshaw.
The BBC1 show has still not produced an act to rival the success of The X Factor, which launched the careers of One Direction, Leona Lewis and Olly Murs.
Commenting on a report in the Sun that ITV is set to add The Voice to its schedule, an ITV spokesman said: “We are not going to indulge in speculation – the BBC has a contract for The Voice into 2016.”
The Dutch company that produces The Voice, Talpa Media, was bought by ITV for £355m in March.
In April, Cowell tipped The Voice to last despite its lack of hits.
“My gut feeling is there are now four talent shows that will probably last for quite a long time and that’s The X Factor, Britain’s Got Talent, Strictly and The Voice. I think that’s enough. Any more than that will be a problem,” he said.
ITV’s big weekend entertainment shows currently include The X Factor and Britain’s Got Talent.
Dancing On Ice – the show in which Jayne Torvill and Christopher Dean taught celebrities to ice dance – came to an end last year.
