[Score]

I'm not sure the clash with Strictly is that big of a deal considering the different audiences and the fact that viewers of Strictly can switch over to The Voice for the last hour and help its ratings. For what The Voice claims to represent and deliver upon, it massively underperforms whereas Starstruck for what it is doesn't and ITV's estimations of how it should have performed have been wide of the mark, IMO.

The retention debate is all good but I don't see anyone saying that Blankety Blank should be punted for not retaining enough of Strictly's audience. Whilst SNT doesn't get anywhere near the same ratings, it's not your average show and its numbers reflect that. 1% Club and Limitless Win both perform substantially better than others in the genre because it's not simple right and wrong answers and they are more accessible than most game shows.

Of course the clash was significant because Strictly massively dented The Voice’s audience during that period, and it was about half The Voice’s running time most weeks. Even Blankety Blank afterwards was tougher competition than anything Starstruck faced.

What programmes “claim” to be is ultimately all hype and just puff and wind. They’ll be judged based on how they deliver against their budget and against other comparable shows and for all Starstruck claimed to just be a bit of fun I can’t imagine it was any cheaper to produce than The Voice. And crucially ITV don’t own it, unlike The Voice.

With retention, again the best way to judge it is comparisons against other shows in the same slot. Blankety Blank has done a better job of retaining Strictly’s audience than previous occupants such as The Wall. Yet Starstruck has performed less well than other shows in similar slots, such as Limitless Win, The 1% Club, The Voice, and the first series of Starstruck itself. If the second series of Starstruck had performed like the first we wouldn’t be having this conversation as I’m sure it would be back, but it fell 25% which is really steep and put it at a much weaker level.