ABC's Dancing with the Stars had its two hour Season 23 premiere last night, and the show is proving that, even though it's been around for quite awhile, it's not on its last leg just yet. Anticipation for this season of the competition must have been pretty high, because the premiere absolutely crushed in the ratings.
The DWTS season premier raked in 13.7 million viewers last night to win Monday night's ratings race. The episode also netted a 2.6 rating among adults in the coveted 18-49 age bracket, according to The Hollywood Reporter. The outlet also notes that while the overall audience for the show is more or less stable throughout seasons, last night's ratings mark an increase in the key ratings demographic of almost 25 percent. That means that DWTS just hit some numbers that it hasn't seen in over four seasons of the show.
So, what could have led to this rather sudden surge in viewership for Dancing with the Stars? Every season sees celebrities compete with professional dancers, and this season saw the return of pro favorites Cheryl Burke and Maksim Chmerkovskiy to the ballroom floor after several seasons away from the show for both of them. While former DWTS pro and judge Julianne Hough is returning to the judges table after one season away, and her brother Derek has also gone back to the ballroom floor after missing last season as well. I'm sure there were some DWTS fans of old who were excited to see many of their favorites back on the show, and tuned in to see how Season 23 would start.
Then, of course, there are the stars. People are always interested to see how the celebrities that they've been watching, often for many years, will fare in something that's usually very outside of their comfort zone. This season has some heavy nostalgia draws, with early '90s rap star Vanilla Ice performing, along with Brady Bunch star Maureen McCormick and R&B superstar Babyface. Former presidential candidate Rick Perry is also getting down (or, trying to) this season, along with Disney Channel heartthrob Jake T. Austin. All of those could have helped the show draw in some additional viewers, but, I think we really know who the biggest draw probably was for Season 23: Ryan Lochte.
The somewhat disgraced Olympic medalist is fresh off a scandal that rocked the Rio Olympics last month, and people who would normally be uninterested in DWTS have likely tuned in to see, not only how he performs, but what he has to say for himself after getting into trouble in Rio. And, unfortunately, that trouble followed him to the Dancing stage last night, when a couple of protestors ran onto the ballroom floor and tried to attack him, as more of their group taunted him from the audience. The whole thing led to security being called and around six people being escorted out of the studio during the live show, while some were later arrested.
Well, there's nothing like a bit of controversy to get ratings gold for a show, especially one that's been around as long as Dancing with the Stars. Let's hope that no one else has to get attacked for the ratings to stay this high, though.
