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TV This Week

For ‘The Voice,’ flat tunes are bad. Flat ratings aren’t.

NBC's reality singing show wraps up season 11 with ratings even

By Louisa Ada Seltzer

December 13, 2016

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Billy Gilman

“The Voice,” TV’s top singing competition, is far from its ratings high point.

But it’s also hanging onto its numbers at a time when even other top-rated programs, such as “The Big Bang Theory” and “Empire” are falling. And that’s probably the best you can expect from a show in its 11^th season.

“Voice” wraps up its season tonight at 9 p.m. with a two-hour finale on NBC. The show has averaged a 2.5 adults 18-49 Nielsen rating on Mondays, even with last spring, and a 2.4 on Tuesdays, which is up 0.2 from spring (though down 11 percent from last fall).

There are four contestants left — Sundance Head, Josh Gallagher, We McDonald and Billy Gilman — and they all performed last night on part one of the finale.

Gilman may be the favorite. He’s got one of the most interesting stories of any recent “Voice” contestant. He sold millions of albums as a child country star but his career fizzled in his teens. Now he’s made a comeback as an adult and the openly gay Gilman has a huge following in the LBGTQ community.

Tonight’s finale wraps up a season with new judges Alicia Keys and Miley Cyrus. The show has long rotated its judges, something unique to “Voice,” since all of them are high-profile performers in their own right who need time off to work on albums and tour.

That’s an approach that perhaps every reality show should take from the beginning, so judges’ banter doesn’t start to feel stale.

A look at this week’s top TV draws
TUESDAY, DECEMBER 13
Time	Network	Program	Description
8 p.m.	Fox	“Brooklyn Nine-Nine” (C)	Jake and Charles stumble onto Latvian organized crime while looking for a hot Christmas toy; the caroling rivalry between the precinct and the MTA heats up.
8:30 p.m.	ABC	“American Housewife” (C)	Last new episode of the year for this and every other show on ABC’s Tuesday comedy block, one of the network’s success stories this season.
9 p.m.	NBC	The Voice (R)	Bruno Mars and The Weeknd (seen last week on CBS’ “Victoria’s Secret Fashion Show”) are among the performers during the two-hour season finale of NBC’s talent show franchise.
9 p.m.	Spike	“Rock the Troops” (A)	Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson hosts a two-hour concert/tribute to U.S. armed forces. Special appearances by Tenacious D, Prince Royce, Matthew McConaughey and many more.
10 p.m.	CBS	“NCIS: New Orleans” (D)	The team investigates the apparent accidental death of a Marine corporal during an amateur race crash. Tonight marks the fall finale for CBS’s popular Tuesday night procedurals, of which “NCIS: NO” is the lowest-rated.
10 p.m.	Bounce	“Ed Gordon” (N)	This news special includes, among several stories, the impact of the Obama administration on the African American community and an interview with renowned artist Kadir Nelson.
WEDNESDAY, DECEMBER 14
Time	Network	Program	Description
3 a.m.	Hulu	“Chance” (D)	First-season finale of Hulu’s original series starring Hugh Laurie, which is already renewed for a second season. The 10th and final episode drops today.
8 p.m.	Fox	“Empire” (D)	Fox moves the fall finale of its highest-rated scripted show an hour earlier to give a special sneak preview of Lee Daniel’s “Star” at 9 p.m. as much sampling as possible.
8 p.m.	CBS	“Survivor” (R)	CBS turns the night over to its reality franchise stalwart. The 33rd two-hour season finale crowns a winner, then leads into its traditional one-hour reunion special.
9 p.m.	NBC	“A Saturday Night Live Christmas Special” (C)	Two-hour compilation of holiday-themed sketches and fake commercials from NBC’s late-night comedy show, a reliable and inexpensive time slot filler that usually earns top ratings.
10 p.m.	Sundance	“Rectify” (D)	As Daniel comes to terms with the challenges ahead, he reflects on how far he’s come. The 110-minute series finale of Sundance’s critically acclaimed original series.
10 p.m.	TV Land	“Younger” (C)	One-hour season finale. The Hamptons Book Fair gathering becomes a crossroads for Liza, Charles, Kelsey and Colin in the wake of the publication of the latter’s book.
THURSDAY, DECEMBER 15
Time	Network	Program	Description
8 p.m.	CBS	“The Big Bang Theory” (C)	Broadcast’s highest-rated comedy airs its last new episode of 2016, as good a lead-in for its Thursday night schedule as CBS could ask for.
8:20 p.m.	NBC/NFL Network	“Thursday Night Football” (S)	NFC West duel between the Los Angeles Rams and the raucous crowd at CenturyLink Field backing its home team, the Seattle Seahawks.
9 p.m.	CMT	“Nashville” (D)	CMT airs the first fifth-season episode of “Nashville” tonight as a sneak preview. An early Christmas gift for #Nashies, since the series’ official premiere isn’t until next month.
9 p.m.	GSN	“Winsanity” (G)	A schoolteacher stacks facts to win prizes for herself and the studio audience. Donald Faison hosts.
9 p.m.	WE	“Growing Up Hip Hop” (R)	Treach has some unkind words for his offspring, Egypt; Briana’s panic attack worsens when Iman becomes her therapy partner; Kristinia finds out about an alleged half-sister.
10 p.m.	ABC	“What Would You Do?” (N)	ABC’s hidden camera show, which usually airs in the summer, has a special holiday-themed special on tap for tonight.
FRIDAY, DECEMBER 16
Time	Network	Program	Description
3 a.m.	Amazon	“Man in the High Castle” (D)	This alternate-history drama, about contemporary America under the control of the Axis nations after the Allies lost World War II, returns for its second season. All 10 episodes drop today.
8 p.m.	ESPN	“NBA ” (S)	The L.A. Lakers travel to Philly to take on the 76ers, followed by the Utah Jazz hosting the Dallas Mavericks.
9 p.m.	CBS	“Hawaii Five-0” (D)	The team goes to Mexico and helps Chin rescue his kidnapped niece.
9 p.m.	Syfy	“Z-Nation” (D)	An epic battle forces the gang to put their differences aside and fight together during the third-season finale of Syfy’s “Walking Dead”-inspired zombie series.
9 p.m.	Fox	“The Exorcist” (D)	Time is running out for Angela Rance and her family, with the potential life-saving exorcism jeopardized by a power move against Pope Sebastian. Season finale for Fox’s TV adaptation, which hasn’t caught on as well as its “Lethal Weapon” reboot.
10 p.m.	PBS	“Lidia Celebrates America” (R)	For the fourth-season premiere of her lifestyle series, chef Lidia Bastianich cooks and celebrates the holidays with veterans.
SATURDAY, DECEMBER 17
Time	Network	Program	Description
8 p.m.	NBC	“A Pentatonix Christmas Special” (S)	NBC repeats Wednesday’s holiday special featuring the popular music group performing holiday songs. Kelly Clarkson and Reba McEntire drop by to sing a tune or two.
8 p.m.	Hallmark	“My Christmas Love” (M)	A hopeless romantic who always strikes out at love (Meredith Hagner) starts receiving anonymous gifts from a suitor (Bobby Campo). Could the man behind the gifts live up to the build-up?
8 p.m.	Fox	“UFC Fight Night” (S)	A four-fight UFC lineup, culminating with the women’s strawweight bout between Michelle Waterson and Paige VanZandt. Live from Sacramento, California.
8:20 p.m.	NFL Network	“NFL Football” (S)	This cable-exclusive NFL match features AFC East rivals Miami Dolphins at the New York Jets.
9 p.m.	ESPN	“College Football” (S)	The R+L Carriers Bowl pits Southern Mississippi against Louisiana-Lafayette, which will do its best not to disappoint the home crowd attending at the Superdome in New Orleans, Louisiana.
11:30 p.m.	NBC	“Saturday Night Live” (C)	Actor Casey Affleck hosts while Chance the Rapper is the musical guest. More importantly, though, will Alec Baldwin continue his Twitter war with president-elect Donald Trump over the former’s impersonation of the latter?
SUNDAY, DECEMBER 18
Time	Network	Program	Description
7 p.m.	ABC	“The Sound of Music” (M)	ABC’s annual airing of this 1965 classic should provide family-friendly counterprogramming to the sports and scripted programming dominating the night.
8 p.m.	Hallmark	“Sleigh Bells Ringing” (M)	Recent divorcée Pauline (Erin Cahill) isn’t in the holiday spirit when she organizes her hometown’s Christmas parade. A magical sleigh with a mind of its own and an attractive woodworker (David Alpay) conspire to turn around Pauline’s outlook on life and the holidays.
8:20 p.m.	NBC	“Sunday Night Football” (S)	The Dallas Cowboys play again on “SNF” a week after the New York Giants narrowly beat them. Don’t expect the ratings against the visiting Tampa Bay Buccaneers to match the previous week’s numbers, even if the game dominates the competition by a wide margin.
9 p.m.	Epix	“Berlin Station” (D)	All the loose ends and suspicions come to a head as Epix’s original spy series wraps up its first season. A second season renewal guarantees a new round of spy games is coming in 2017.
9 p.m.	A&E	“Hoarders” (R)	Season premiere. Profiles of a woman addicted to owning storage units (big fan of “Storage Wars”) and a man on the verge of bankruptcy if he can’t offload some of his $10 million hoard loot to pay off debts.
9 p.m.	Showtime	“Shameless” (D)	With a seventh-season finale titled “Requiem for a Slut,” you bet this is going to be a typical Gallagher family send-off.
A = awards show or special, C = comedy, D = drama, DD = daytime drama, G = game show, K = kids, M = movie, N = news/documentary, R = reality, S = sports, T = talk/variety show.