Telecinco is changing its evening lineup, expanding First Dates to Friday nights and pushing back ¡De Viernes! as La Voz returns to Antena 3. The move is a direct response to the competition for prime time viewers.
Telecinco is making a clear play for Spain’s prime time audience. Starting this week, First Dates will air on Friday evenings, not just its usual nights. Mediaset’s decision comes as Antena 3 brings back La Voz, a show that has been tough competition in the past.
This isn’t a small tweak. By moving First Dates into the Friday access prime time slot, Telecinco is pushing ¡De Viernes! back by almost an hour and cutting its length. The timing lines up with the return of La Voz, hosted by Eva González and featuring Mika, Lola Índigo, Melendi, and Pablo López as coaches. Last season, La Voz averaged a 13.5% share and hit 15% during direct clashes with Telecinco’s Friday shows.
According to industry reports, First Dates will now air on Telecinco four nights a week—Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, and Friday—marking its most extensive presence in the channel's history.
Mediaset’s new schedule is straightforward. First Dates now leads into almost every major evening show on Telecinco: Mondays before La isla de las tentaciones, Tuesdays ahead of Supervivientes All Stars. Tierra de Nadie, Wednesdays again with La isla de las tentaciones, and Fridays before ¡De Viernes!. Only Thursdays are different, set aside for the main Supervivientes All Stars gala. The goal is to give Telecinco’s top shows a stronger start and to keep ¡De Viernes! from going head-to-head with the first hour of La Voz.
Last season’s numbers made the challenge obvious. In October, La Voz pulled a 15% share, while ¡De Viernes! managed 10.8%, its lowest of the year. By putting First Dates in as a buffer, Telecinco hopes to keep more viewers during the key access slot and soften the blow from Antena 3’s talent show. The network is counting on First Dates’ steady performance to hold viewers where other formats have struggled.
This is more than just a defensive move. Mediaset is making First Dates a central part of its nightly lineup. The restaurant run by Carlos Sobera is now the entry point for Telecinco’s biggest shows, anchoring the week and giving viewers a familiar start. The new routine is clear: First Dates with La isla de las tentaciones on Mondays and Wednesdays, with Supervivientes All Stars on Tuesdays, and now with ¡De Viernes! on Fridays.
Television audience data for September 2026 shows that First Dates maintained a stable performance in access prime time, with daily shares ranging from 6.1% to 9.5%. This consistency is seen as a key factor in Telecinco's strategy to defend its evening slots against growing competition from channels like Cuatro and the anticipated return of La Voz.
Industry audience reports
The stakes for Telecinco are immediate. The first test comes this Friday, when First Dates will lead into ¡De Viernes! as La Voz returns to Antena 3. The results will show whether this new lineup can slow the loss of viewers on Friday nights or if La Voz will once again take the lead. Mediaset’s willingness to shake up its own schedule shows how urgent the situation is. Instead of giving up the access slot, the network is relying on a proven show to defend its prime time. Whether this works will depend on how viewers react to seeing First Dates in a new slot—and whether Telecinco’s plan can stand up to a rival that has already shown its strength.
