NBC PUNCHES UP "KNOCKOUT" ROUNDS OF "THE VOICE" TO AIR IN TWO-HOUR ORIGINAL EPISODES ON BACK-TO-BACK NIGHTS ON OCTOBER 29-30 FOR FOUR HOURS

New Comedies "Go On" and "The New Normal" Will Be Broadcast One Hour Later Than Usual (10-11 p.m. ET) on October 30 for That Night

UNIVERSAL CITY, Calif. - October 10, 2012 - NBC will pack more punch to its "Knockout" rounds of "The Voice" by airing two-hour original episodes on back-to-back nights on Monday, October 29 (8-10 p.m. ET) and Tuesday, October 30 (8-10 p.m. ET) for a total of four hours of "Knockouts" that week.

In addition, on October 30, the network will move back the broadcast times for original episodes of the new comedies "Go On" (10-10:30 p.m. ET) and "The New Normal" (10:30-11 p.m. ET) for one night.

"The Voice" is the season's top-rated unscripted series in adults 18-49, according to "most current" season averages from Nielsen Media Research, with the Monday edition averaging a 4.9 rating, 13 share in adults 18-49 and 13.7 million viewers overall, while the Tuesday telecast is earning a 4.4/13 in 18-49 and 12.3 million viewers overall. Monday's "Voice" is currently the #1 unscripted series on ABC, CBS, NBC and Fox this season in 18-49 and the Tuesday edition is #2. Counting all primetime series on those networks except sports pre- and post-game shows, the Monday "Voice is tied for #4 overall and the Tuesday telecast ranks #5.

"The Voice" returned with the strongest vocalists from across the country invited to compete in the blockbuster vocal competition show's third season. Celebrity musician coaches Christina Aguilera, CeeLo Green, Adam Levine and Blake Shelton return along with Carson Daly as host and Christina Milian as Social Media Correspondent.

The show's innovative format features four stages of competition: the first begins with the blind audition, then the battle round, the brand new knockouts and finally, the live performance shows.

During the blind auditions, the decisions from the musician coaches are based solely on voice and not on looks. The coaches hear the artists perform, but they don't get to see them -- thanks to rotating chairs. If a coach is impressed by the artist's voice, he/she pushes a button to select the artist for his/her team. At this point, the coach's chair will swivel so that he/she can face the artist he/she has selected. If more than one coach pushes their button, the power then shifts to the artist to choose which coach they want to work with. If no coach pushes their button, the artist is eliminated from the competition.

Once the teams are set, the battle is on. Coaches will dedicate themselves to developing their team of artists, giving them advice, and sharing the secrets of their success along with the help from their celebrity advisers. During the battle rounds the coaches will pit two of their own team members against each other to sing the same song together in front of a studio audience.

After the vocal battle, the coach must choose which of his/her singers will advance to the next round of competition, while the losing artist is available to be stolen by another coach. In a new twist to the format, each coach has two steals during the battle rounds.

Joining "The Voice" coaches as advisers are Billie Joe Armstrong, Mary J. Blige, Rob Thomas and Michael Buble as they well help prep the teams for battle.

More information on the team members can be found at http://www.nbc.com/TheVoice/.

At the end of the battles, only the strongest members of each coach's roster remain and proceed to the new knockout rounds. The artists will be paired again with a member of their team, but this time they find out only minutes before performing who they are being compared against. The artists each select their own song to perform individually, while their direct competitor watches and waits. They are vying for their coach's confidence and decision to take them to the live shows. Their coach will choose the winner and the artist not selected will be sent home.

In the final live performance phase of the competition, the top artists from each team will compete each week against each other during a live broadcast. The television audience will vote to save their favorite artists and the two artists with the lowest number of votes will be sent home each week. In the end, one will be named "The Voice" and will receive the grand prize of a recording contract.

"The Voice" is a presentation of Mark Burnett's One Three Media, Talpa Media USA Inc. and Warner Horizon Television. The series is created by John de Mol, who executive-produces along with Burnett, Audrey Morrissey, Stijn Bakkers and Lee Metzger.

For embeddable clips and more, please visit NBC.com's official show site: http://www.nbc.com/TheVoice.

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