‘American Idol’ & ‘The Voice’ Go Head to Head in Ratings Battle: Who Came Out On Top?

The ratings battle between two of the most popular singing competition shows on television is heating up as ABC’s American Idol and NBC’s The Voice are now going head-to-head on Monday nights.

American Idol‘s 23rd season premiered on March 2, 2025, with the audition episodes airing on Sunday nights. Now that the auditions are over, the show is moving to two episodes a week, airing Sundays and Mondays. This began with “Hollywood Week: Idol Arena” this past Monday (March 31).

The Voice, meanwhile, premiered its 27th season on February 3, 2025, and airs episodes at 8 PM ET on Mondays. This means the two shows are now facing off at the same time each Monday, and, based on the first week, The Voice came out on top.

According to figures reported by The U.S. Sun, Idol saw 3,781,000 total viewers tune in for Monday’s “Hollywood Week: Idol Arena” episode. This was down from the 4,661,000 viewers that watched the last Auditions episode on Sunday (March 30).

The Voice, however, held firm against the competition, delivering 4,567,000 total viewers on Monday, almost 1 million more than Idol. This number was slightly down on the week prior, which saw 4,929,000 viewers tune in for the March 24 episode.

Season 27 of The Voice features the return of former coach Adam Levine, back for his seventeenth season after last coaching during Season 16. Levine has joined returning coaches John Legend and Michael Bublé and first-time coach Kelsea Ballerini.

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Meanwhile, Season 23 of Idol has seen the debut of season four winner Carrie Underwood, who has joined the judging panel to replace Katy Perry. Underwood serves as a judge alongside regulars Luke Bryan and Lionel Richie.

The Voice has been winning the ratings war, with the only episode of Idol to beat its NBC rival so far this season being the premiere on March 2, which aired immediately after the Academy Awards. Since then, The Voice has brought in around 1 million more viewers than Idol.

For example, the March 9 episode of Idol, which featured Part 2 of the Auditions, amassed 4,494,000 total viewers, while the March 10 episode of The Voice brought in 5,470,000 total viewers.

This continued the following week, with Idol‘s March 16 episode amassing 4,510,000 total viewers, while The Voice‘s March 17 episode drew 5,237,000 total viewers.

Will things change as both shows head towards the live shows? Only time will tell.

American Idol, Season 23, Sundays, 8/7c, ABC

The Voice, Mondays, 8/7c, NBC, streaming on Peacock

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