The Bachelorette season opener (airing May 27, 2013) starring Desiree Hartsock tanked in ratings last night with a series-low of only 5.8 million viewers and a 1.9 rating in the all important adults 14-49 demo. That’s what ABC gets for pitting the premiere episode of its once-popular show against The Voice (which had 10.9 million viewers and a 3.1 demo rating in comparison)–not to mention airing the season kickoff during a holiday weekend when not as many turn to the boob tube for entertainment. 

Desiree’s 9th season premiere was down 27 percent from Emily Maynard’s season opener last year. But ABC played its hand much better last year when it premiered Emily’s season right after the Dancing with the Stars finale. That premiere brought in 8.05 million viewers.

The season before, the show’s seventh, which starred Ashley Hebert kicked off with 9.02 million viewers. For season six, Ali Fedotowsky brought in 9.08 million viewers. We shall wait and see what happens to Desiree’s airtime once we can’t blame the holidays for the poor ratings. Sadly for her, The Voice is only getting hotter as it gets closer and closer to its season finale.