While there is no way of knowing how beneficial the extra eyeballs will be in driving the regular timeslot ratings for “The Voice,” NBC can at least know that season two of the competition series got off to a strong start.
Following Sunday’s “Super Bowl,” “The Voice” delivered a 19.4 overnight metered market rating. Up significantly from last year’s underwhelming post-Super Bowl numbers for “Glee,” the overnight ratings forecast a big premiere audience for “The Voice”–one that should easily eclipse that of any “American Idol” airing this season.
The early response to Sunday’s “Voice” episode was very positive, but the conversion of post-Super Bowl viewers into regular viewers is not clockwork. Still, it appears impossible that “The Voice” will not perform decently Monday night, and that should mean good news for “Smash,” which airs out of the competition show.
As for the Super Bowl, the Patriots-Giants nailbiter just slightly missed a record in the overnights, although the final data could certainly tell a different story. The game’s 47.8 overnight trailed last year’s Packers-Steelers game and the Super Bowl XXI matchup between the Giants and Broncos on the all-time list; both of those games delivered a 47.9.