Disney Plus
“Dancing With the Stars” fans have had some strong reactions to an “interesting” report that says Disney may be thinking about moving the show back to ABC and replacing host Tyra Banks.
Here’s what the report says and how fans are reacting:
A Source told The Sun That Executive Producers Are Looking to Overhaul ‘Dancing With the Stars’
A new report from The Sun says that an insider at the show told them the executive producers are looking at an overhaul for “Dancing With the Stars,” including “a new host, new judges and bigger name contestants.”
The source also said, “The whole show is being reassessed from top to bottom, including whether there is a switch back to ABC, the judges and the status of contestants. There is that desire for us to land bigger named stars, even an Oscar winner, to really increase our visibility.”
A second source told the newspaper that at first, everyone considered the move to Disney Plus a big success, but now they are reevaluating that.
The insider said:
At first, the Disney Plus move was a success and everyone was happy, but no one talked about real ratings or how well the show was doing.
Truthfully, there was a fear among some of the team that ABC viewers didn’t come across. Fans still love the show, but haven’t moved over as they have a traditional mindset, so already hopes have been raised about a switch back to ABC.
ABC did feel like home and there is a desire to get back home.
This is in keeping with what fans and the press have seen in terms of viewership numbers for season 31 — namely, that at first, judge Derek Hough said in his Instagram stories following the premiere that the show exceeded expectations in terms of viewership by nine times what was expected.
Hough said at the time:
I’m not supposed to share this, but we just got some information that last week’s premiere of “Dancing With the Stars” actually exceeded expectations in viewership by nine times. Nine times it exceeded expectations! So I just want to say thank you so much to everybody who tuned in to watch, who care about the show, who care about us, who have been with us since the beginning, who are new, thank you. Thank you so much, it means the absolute world to us. Thank you for coming along with us on this new adventure, this new journey, this new era of entertainment. We love you, we appreciate it, so let’s keep this party rolling, guys.
Now, we were not told what expectations were, so that doesn’t indicate any sort of concrete number, but after Hough talked about the premiere and its viewership numbers, that was the last anyone has heard about ratings and Disney Plus has not released any official numbers. So, perhaps the source is correct in saying that “at first” the move was a success but now people are questioning if moving to Disney Plus was the right decision.
Fans Are Calling the Article ‘Interesting’ & Some Support Getting Rid of Tyra Banks, But They Don’t Think The Show is Going Back to ABC
On Reddit, a few fans are intrigued by the idea that producers are considering moving the show back to ABC, though they caution to take it all with a grain of salt.
“The part about moving back to ABC is interesting. While I know the show wasn’t making them money anymore, I did wonder if they were sorry at all not having it on this season. [‘Bachelor in Paradise’] performed worse than DWTS did in the time slot, and it seemed like this season was pretty well received by fans. But I agree with others, this is the Sun,” wrote one fan, adding in a second comment that at least they kept in the Disney family instead of canceling the show outright.
“I wonder if this was just an experiment to see how DWTS would do on Disney+. It’s the first show of its kind to be on a streaming platform. It seems like it did well enough, although I feel like that’s all been second-hand information. But rather than cancel the show outright, this kept it under the ABC/Disney umbrella in case ABC ever wanted to bring it back to network TV. Which I really don’t see happening,” wrote the fan.
As far as host Tyra Banks goes, some fans still think she needs to be let go, but others think she really improved in her third year hosting in 2022.
“I’ve been critical of Tyra the past couple years & I was so so upset because of what they did to Tom Bergeron but I have to say that she really grew on me this year,” wrote one fan. “She fumbles with her words sometimes but that doesn’t bother me. I love how she supports all of the contestants/ pros & you can tell that she’s really a fan of the show. I love that they hired Alfonso to be the cohost. You can tell that everyone just loves him. So I hope that they don’t replace them cause I think they’re doing a great job.”
Another fan wrote, “I personally don’t think Tyra is going anywhere since she’s a producer. I do think getting a co-host was a smart decision though, I felt Tyra did improve her hosting this season.”
But some fans think she’s had time to get better and she just hasn’t improved enough.
“I just don’t think she’s likable. Her whisper voice, her zero compatibility with anyone on the judges table, her lack of timing. I also don’t need to see her strut out every week wearing the awful sausage fashion. Sorry. I can think of 10 people that would be better,” wrote one fan.
Another added, “[N]othing about Tyra’s personality, public persona, or whispers about what she’s like behind the scenes suggest she will ever believe there’s something she could improve on,” to which a third replied, “I agree. She has to want to improve to actually improve. I’m hoping the backlash she has received the past two years will give her a wake up call and she’ll try to be better. If not, plenty of others who can do the job!”
A fourth wrote, “She’s been a host for like 20 years! How much time does she need to improve?”
“Dancing With the Stars” returns for its 32nd season in 2023 on Disney Plus.