ABC
Season 30 of ABC’s “Dancing With the Stars” has officially concluded, and that means that ratings are in for the season finale.
While the season finale did see a huge boost in viewership from the previous episode, according to the recorded ratings on TVSeriesFinale, the show still hit a record low when it comes to number of viewers who tuned in for the finale of a season.
Ratings have been down across the board for the entire season.
The “Dancing With the Stars” Finale Drew In Over 5.5 Million Viewers
The finale of “Dancing With the Stars” season 30 drew in 5.643 million viewers, which was up nearly 18 percent from the week before. The show also had a high rating in the 18-49 demographic, which is coveted by networks.
This has been the first time this season the show topped NBC’s “The Voice” in the demographic, though it still did not pull in the same amount of viewers as the singing competition show for the finale.
There are many reasons that viewers may not have tuned in to the season. Some vowed to boycott the show when they realized that Tyra Banks would be returning for her second season as host. Others were upset when it was revealed that pop star JoJo Siwa would be dancing with a female partner in the first female partnership in the show’s history.
The season has been down in viewership as a whole when compared to the previous seasons.
According to TVSeriesFinale, which reports the viewership on shows each week, “Dancing With the Stars” pulled in just 5.46 million viewers for the season premiere, which was down nearly 33% down from the season 29 premiere.
Things did not get better for the second episode of the season, which featured the first elimination. Instead, they got worse. In the 18-49 demographic, the viewership was down 21% from the previous episode. Overall viewership was even worse for the episode. The show pulled in just 4.876 million viewers for the second episode of the season.
For context, the second episode of season 29 pulled in 6.091 million viewers. The premiere of season 29, however, brought in 8.21 million, according to TVSeriesFinale. The drop in numbers is huge when compared to the current season.
Executives Blame The Talent Pool
According to one report by The Sun early in the season, producers are worried about what the low ratings mean for the show.
“The ratings matter is of concern for executives,” a source told the outlet at the time. The source added that the executives are thinking that the stars are “not generating the same buzz as in the past.”
Now, a new report by The Sun has an insider saying that the executives are not blaming host Tyra Banks for the low ratings and are instead concentrating on the talent pool for the show.
“There is a sense that they do not want to make any comments, because they were the ones to bring in Tyra,” the source told the outlet. “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.”
“Dancing With the Stars” has yet to be renewed for season 31. If it is, it will likely return in September 2022.
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