“Dancing with the Stars” may be in its 20th year, but it won’t be too late. The season 34 premiere aired on Tuesday, September 16th, won the night for the second year in a row with a total of 5.5 million viewers and a 1.1 rating with an adult of 18-49.
The episode, which saw a 6% increase in total viewership and a 49% increase in ratings from last year’s premiere, is the series’ biggest premiere in five years since season 29 in 2020. This was the first episode after the exit of hosts Tom Bergeron and Erin Andrews.
The competition series produced by BBC Studios also won the 8pm Timeslot, appearing above both NBC’s “American Got Talent” and total audience (+23%) and Adult 18-49 rating (+182%). According to ABC, “Dancing with the Stars” broke the total average of all broadcast competitions over the period.
After breaking multiple voting records throughout season 33, fan votes have been stronger with the new cast with 21 million votes, showing a 163% increase in last season’s premiere episode. Social interactions have risen 58% from 1.7 million last year to 2.7 million this year.
Disney
Season 2 of ABC’s “High Potention” followed “DWTS” and made an impressive debut with 4.19 million viewers, up 18% from last year’s series premiere. A day after Disney+’s Hulu and streaming on Hulu, this episode gained 51% more views than the pilot episode did on the first day.
With last season finished at the top, the massive “DWTS” numbers were not a major surprise. After watching on all platforms for seven days, the finale averaged nearly 8 million viewers, with a 1.55 rating with adults between 18-49. The episode has won the largest viewer in three years, with a total audience of 7.95 million, and has won the largest multi-platform viewer for both audiences and adults since the 2021 season 30 premiere.
“Dance with the Stars” and “High Potential” premiere aired before Disney and ABC got caught up in a controversy over the company’s decision to suspend late-night host Jimmy Kimmel. It remains to be seen whether any of the show’s contestants will comment on the news about next week’s live episode or make a statement.
