ABC's 'Dancing With the Stars' Returns With Its Best Premiere Ratings Since 2020
The Season 35 premiere of 'Dancing With the Stars' on ABC attracted 6.7 million viewers, a 24% increase from the previous season's opener. It marked the show's best premiere audience in six years. The episode also posted its strongest rating among adults 18-49 since 2017.
The Season 35 opener drew 6.7 million total viewers, a 24% jump over the prior year’s 5.4 million and the largest premiere audience since Season 29’s 8.1 million in 2020. Among adults 18-49, the rating climbed 40% from 1.06 to 1.48, the strongest premiere in that demographic since 2017. The episode aired Tuesday on ABC, marking the show’s return to the network after its previous season. The gains follow a broader trend of live event programming recovering post-strike, though the series still trails its early-pandemic peak.
This ratings rebound could signal renewed audience appetite for traditional broadcast reality competition, especially as streaming fragments viewership. Advertisers may take note of the 18-49 surge, potentially boosting ABC’s pricing power for future episodes. For fans, the stronger numbers may encourage more celebrity casting and production investment. However, the show’s success remains tied to seasonal scheduling and competition from other platforms, so sustained growth is not guaranteed.