BBC 1”s singing show The Voice finished its first run with an average audience of 7.14m. That figure falls well short of the 13.8m that ITV1”s rival show Britain”s Got Talent achieved in its own final show (May 14).

In the early stages of The Voice”s debut run, the show was running neck and neck with Britain”s Bot Talent and regularly securing 10m+. But the format lost its way mid-series and saw ratings drop as low as 4.5 million.

Viewed against that low, the final figure is an improvement. But the BBC will want to see much better ratings next year in order to justify the £25m it is investing in the Dutch format. Reports suggest that the show”s creator John de Mol will meet the BBC to discuss changes that will help reignite audience interest.