NBC's 'The Voice' to Air After the Super Bowl

12:45 PM PDT 5/31/2011 by Philiana Ng

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Courtesy of NBC Universal

"The Voice"

NBC will air The Voice after the Super Bowl in February.

An hourlong episode will air Sunday, Feb. 5 following the network's telecast of Super Bowl XLVI, Bob Greenblatt, chairman of NBC Entertainment announced Tuesday.

“There is no better showcase on television than to follow the Super Bowl, and we believe The Voice is deserving of such high-profile exposure,” said Greenblatt in a statement. “The attention grabbing blind audition phase of ‘The Voice’ has mass appeal and will fittingly team up with the biggest sporting event of the year.”

It hasn't been determined whether the episode will be the season premiere.

The Voice is the 2010-11 season's top freshman series in the key adults 18-49 demographic, ranking behind American Idol among new and returning series on all broadcast networks. Season-to-date, the music competition series averages a 5.4 rating and 12 million viewers.

The Mark Burnett-produced series airs its last "battle round" episode Tuesday night before diving into the live rounds. NBC has slated the second round of The Voice for midseason as a two-hour lead-in to Smash, a drama about the making of a Broadway musical, on Monday nights.

Email: philiana.ng@thr.com