Last night’s Dancing with the Stars premiere posted great ratings in both the key 18-49 demo and overall viewers. Whether it was Tyra Banks fans anticipating her taking over as host, or folks tuning in to watch the notorious Tiger King star Carole Baskin dance, ABC execs must be thrilled this morning.
Dancing with the Stars season 29 kicked off with a 1.3 rating among adults 18-49 and averaged 8.1 million viewers across its two hours. That represents a 30% ratings bump from last season’s premiere. Last night’s episode was the highest-rated Dancing With the Stars premiere since 2017.
And that’s despite COVID-19 protocols eliminating a live audience, a live band, and featured dancers. Also, DWTS has scaled back production on individual routines to keep the number of crew members needed at a minimum.
Of course, the big test will be whether Dancing with the Stars can keep last night’s looky-loos, or not. The new audience may decide that they have seen enough.
Next week, Dancing with the Stars moves to Tuesday night for one week only, and will compete against the America’s Got Talent season final performance show.
