Best Debut in 5 Years

“Dancing With the Stars” may be in its 20th year, but it’s nowhere near slowing down. The Season 34 premiere, which aired on Tuesday, Sept. 16, won the night for the second year in a row with 5.5 million total viewers and a 1.1 rating with adults 18-49.

Up 6% in total viewers and by 49% in rating from last year’s premiere, the episode is the series’ biggest premiere in five years, since Season 29 in 2020 — which was the first episode after the exits of hosts Tom Bergeron and Erin Andrews’ exit.

The competition series, produced by BBC Studios, also won the 8 p.m. timeslot, coming in above NBC’s “America’s Got Talent” in both total viewers (+23%) and adults 18-49 rating (+182%). According to ABC, “Dancing with the Stars” beat the combined averages of all broadcast competition in the time period.

After breaking multiple voting records throughout Season 33, fan voting started strong with 21 million votes cast for the new cast, showing a rise of 163% over last season’s premiere episode, which saw 8 million votes. Social interactions were up 58% from last year’s 1.7 million, this year clocking at 2.7 million.

Season 2 of ABC’s “High Potential” followed “DWTS,” also making an impressive debut with 4.19 million total viewers, up 18% from the series premiere last year. After one day of streaming on Hulu and Hulu on Disney+, the episode garnered 51% more views than the pilot episode did on its first day.

The massive “DWTS” numbers don’t come as a huge surprise, as last season ended on top. After seven days of viewing on all platforms, the finale averaged nearly 8 million viewers and a 1.55 rating with adults 18-49. The episode garnered 7.95 million total viewers, landing the largest audience in three years and the largest multiplatform viewing in both total viewers and adults 18-49 since the Season 30 premiere in 2021. This season includes a buzzy cast including “The Secret Lives of Mormom Wives” stars Whitney Leavitt and Jen Affleck, social media mogul Alix Earle and reality personality Dylan Efron.

“Dancing With the Stars” and “High Potential” premieres aired one day before Disney and ABC were embroiled in controversy over the company’s decision to suspend late-night host Jimmy Kimmel. It’s unclear yet whether any of the show’s contestants will comment or make a statement on air about the news on next week’s live episode.