BBC1's new talent show The Voice and the new series of Britain's Got Talent both claimed a victory in the first round of their Saturday night ratings battle, according to figures. Estimates show that BGT ultimately had the higher number of viewers, with a peak audience of 12.2m, while The Voice's debut peaked at 9.8m. However the BBC has said that The Voice scored more viewers when the two shows overlapped for 20 minutes from 8pm - with their audience at 8.9m against 6.5m for BGT. The average audience for Britain's Got Talent was estimated at 9.9m, while an average audience of 8.4m tuned in to The Voice. According to the corporation the figure was 3m more than the opening episodes of The X Factor, BGT and Strictly Come Dancing. However they admitted that many Voice viewers switched over to Britain's Got Talent once the show finished at 8.20pm And ITV rapidly hit back, saying that BGT's debut was the best-rated show of 2012 apart from episodes of their soaps - even though the viewing figures for the launch episode were down on the opening episode of the 2011 series. The two shows have been locked in a war of words following the scheduling clash which saw them both begin on the same day - although BGT aired an hour later than The Voice at 8pm. Britain's Got Talent also unveiled its new panel, with Simon Cowell returning, and David Walliams and Alesha Dixon joining regular Amanda Holden.
