DWTS Execs Blame Low Ratings On The Talent – REPORT

It is no secret that “Dancing With the Stars” fans do not care for host Tyra Banks, who took over hosting duties in season 29 after the show parted ways with Tom Bergeron and Erin Andrews. A new report now says the network executives are blaming the show’s low ratings on the season 30 talent pool and not Banks. Here is what the insider said and how far the “Dancing With the Stars” ratings have dipped since Bergeron and Andrews were fired.

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An Insider Said The Executives Are ‘Scared’ To Address Ratings with Tyra Banks

According to The Sun, an insider said that “Dancing With the Stars” producers are “too scared” to blame Banks and the “fellow show boss,” i.e. Andrew Llinares, the executive producer who started with the show in season 26. The source said that executives are blaming “talent and not Tyra” for the low ratings and that they think this year’s contestants do not appeal to viewers the same way that past seasons have. The source also said that producers choose not to engage in talks about the ratings at this point.

“The network executives do not engage on this at all, certainly at production level,” said the source. “There is a sense that they do not want to make any comments, because they were the ones to bring in Tyra. And no one wants to lose face saying out loud there are problems. It doesn’t reflect well on their decision. So far the only discussion point about the struggles has been that it is the talent pool this year, which has not appealed to audiences – and nothing to do with Tyra.”

The source told The Sun that for now, everyone is focusing on “making the contestants have their best experiences and not worrying about the numbers,” plus they all “love their jobs,” so no one wants to rock the boat.

“No one is speaking up about all the dramas on a production level, because they love their jobs and the show. They are all doing the best they can, but hope that all the issues will get reviewed at some point,” said the insider.

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How Bad Are The ‘Dancing With the Stars’ Ratings?

A note — broadcast TV ratings have been steadily falling for years due to the increase in viewership choices and rise in streaming platforms, plus the ability to watch something on delayed viewing via streaming services or DVR. So, ratings falling as a show airs is nothing new. It is extremely rare for a show to maintain the same ratings year after year. If you look at other reality shows like “American Idol,” “Survivor” and “Big Brother,” none of them get the ratings they once did, and “Dancing With the Stars” is the same way.

For Tom Bergeron’s final four fall seasons on the show, the ratings fell steadily year over year, dropping from an average of 10.52 million viewers per episode to 6.74 million viewers per episode from season 23 to season 28.

Here are the season averages from the past six fall seasons (via Showbuzz Daily and TV By the Numbers)

• Season 23, which aired in the fall of 2016, averaged 10.52 million viewers per episode.
• Season 25, which aired in the fall of 2017, averaged 9.35 million viewers per episode.
• Season 27, which aired in the fall of 2018, averaged 7.12 million viewers per episode.
• Season 28, which aired in the fall of 2019, averaged 6.74 million viewers per episode.
• Season 29, which aired in the fall of 2020, averaged 6.19 million viewers per episode.
• Season 30, which is airing in the fall of 2021, is averaging 4.82 million viewers per episode.

The drop from Bergeron’s penultimate season to his final one was by 0.38 million viewers on average. The drop between his final season and Tyra Banks’ first season as host was by 0.55. That is not that big of a difference, especially when you look back and see that there was a drop of over 2 million viewers between seasons 25 and 27.

However, the concerning number for “Dancing With the Stars” right now is from season 29 to season 30. The ratings have fallen by an average of 1.37 million viewers. If the pattern had held between seasons 27, 28, 29 and 30, the season 30 average would be more in line with 5.73 million viewers per episode, not 4.82 million viewers per episode.

Maybe the ratings drop is because of the new host or maybe the executives are right in saying it wasn’t a great talent pool this year — or maybe it’s just the nature of broadcast TV ratings steadily falling nowadays. There’s no way to know for sure. But the ratings are not great. It will be interesting to see what the ratings are for season 31, if the show gets renewed.

“Dancing With the Stars” airs Mondays at 8 p.m. Eastern and Pacific times on ABC.

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