Heavy/NBC“The Voice” season 26 coaches Snoop Dogg, Gwen Stefani, Reba McEntire and Michael Buble

hen “The Voice” returns for its 26th season on September 23, 2024, fans will likely notice numerous changes, from a quirky schedule to important competition changes.

The most obvious change is the new coaching panel for season 26, with country superstar Reba McEntire as the only returning coach from the previous season. McEntire will be joined by veteran coach Gwen Stefani, who took season 25 off, as well as newcomers Michael Bublé and Snoop Dogg.

To get up to speed on when to tune in and what to watch for, read on.

‘The Voice’ Schedule for Season 26: When to Watch

NBC has confirmed that the new season will feature five competition rounds, as usual: Blind Auditions, Battle Rounds, Knockouts, Playoffs and Live Performance Shows. But the schedule of some of those rounds may throw fans off.

Viewers are typically used to watching the Blind Auditions on back-to-back nights, on Mondays and Tuesdays. But NBC has had to make some changes due to it being an election year.

“The Voice” will begin with just one show per week — on Monday nights only — during its first two weeks, according to TV Insider. Though a reason hasn’t been given for the first week’s one-show-only schedule, TV Insider said that the following week, the show will be preempted by NBC’s live coverage of the Vice-Presidential Debate on October 1.

Beginning the week of October 8, the outlet reported, “The Voice” will begin airing on both Mondays and Tuesdays for the next month, but will be preempted again on Election Day, November 5.

Altogether, there will be six episodes total for the Blind Auditions, all airing from 8 – 10 p.m. Eastern time: September 23, September 30, October 7, October 8, October 14 and October 15.

While the Blind Auditions are airing, the coaches will be filming the Playoff rounds on September 25 and 26 in Los Angeles, according to ticket broker 1iota.

Competition Changes to Watch For on Season 26

The coaches and schedule aren’t the only things changing for season 26. There are also some subtle but important alterations to the competition to keep things fresh.

According to NBC Insider, showrunner Audrey Morrissey said during an industry event in May, “I’m always trying to think about what would be a good thing to add to the engine of the show? What are the new twists that aren’t just interesting but that feel really germane and make sense for the show? We’re constantly thinking about that return on investment.”

For season 26, one of those changes will be that each coach will be granted two steals instead of one during the Battles. This will allow each coach to end that round with nine contestants on their teams, NBC said in press materials.

That then makes it possible to bring back three-way Knockouts, first introduced during season 22, where an artist competes against two other teammates versus one, per NBC. Each singer will choose their own song to perform while their teammates watch from the sidelines, and their coach can only choose to keep one teammate out of each trio of singers — unless they use their one save.

Anyone not selected to stay with their coach after their Knockout round is fair game for the other coaches to steal (coaches each also have one steal to use). When all is said and done, the coaches will each leave the Knockouts with their teams whittled down to five contestants.

Season 26 of “The Voice” kicks off with a two-hour NBC premiere at 8 p.m. Eastern time on September 23. It will be available to stream the following day on Peacock.

Liv Lane is an entertainment writer who covers the Hallmark Channel, HGTV, American Idol and The Voice for Heavy. Based in Minneapolis, she has three decades of experience as a local and national radio host, columnist and publicist, interviewing and working with a wide range of celebrities over the years, from Deepak Chopra to Lil Nas X.