There is a lot of change coming for fans of The Voice this fall, and we’re not just talking about the recently announced scheduling shakeups the show will undergo as NBC makes room for NBA coverage!
NBC has announced the coach lineup for The Voice season 28 and it seems only one of the show’s current coaches will be returning for the next season of NBC’s long-running hit. After serving as coaches on season 27, Adam Levine, John Legend, and Kelsea Ballerini will all be exiting the show to make way for a trio of returning coaches.
Joining Michael Bublé, who is coming back for his third straight season after making his debut on the show in season 26, will be returning coaches Reba McEntire, Snoop Dogg, and Niall Horan. While Snoop and Reba only took a season off, this will mark Niall’s first time back on the show since season 24, on which Team Niall’s Huntley took home the win.
As disappointing as it might be to see Adam, Kelsea, and John stepping away from the show, it’s not unusual for The Voice’s coach lineup to change season to season. While there are usually a few holdovers between seasons, part of the fun has been seeing artists coming and going over the seasons. This formula has proven to be a recipe for success, with the coach changes helping to keep the show fresh and add new dynamics among the coaches.
What will be new for fans is NBC’s rollout strategy for the fall season of the show. The Voice will return this fall with new episodes airing on Monday and Tuesday nights beginning in September. However, things will look much different once NBC’s NBA coverage kicks off in October.
Beginning in October, The Voice will move to a once a week format with new episodes airing solely on Monday nights. We’ll have a stretch of the usual two-hour episodes before the show’s episode length is reduced to a one-hour format beginning in November when NBC slots in a one-hour comedy block to kick off the night with The Voice airing between it and new episodes of Brilliant Minds.
There is no word yet on how this might impact the plans for the final episodes of the season when the show goes live. We’ve typically seen performance shows on Monday and results on Tuesday, but that could change if the show remains on Monday nights alone. It’s a formula that’s worked for American Idol, so it could also work for The Voice, but we’ll just have to wait to see how NBC ends up handling the final episodes of the season including the season finale.