‘Dancing With the Stars,’ ‘The Voice’ Tied for Viewers at Season Midpoint
ABC/Christopher Willard, Greg Gayne/NBC Reading Time: 3 minutes
It’s no secret that Dancing With the Stars and The Voice are some of the most loved series on television. Even though they aren’t the only shows on right now, they’re definitely some of the bigger draws for viewers. Both shows have been on the air for more than 20 seasons and have gained loyal fans along the way, so how are they gaining the same viewership?
Dancing With the Stars and The Voice are pulling in a similar average viewership after being on air for 10 years simultaneously. According to a press release, Grease Night was Dancing with the Stars’ most viewed episode yet for season 30. The episode brought in 5.9 million viewers for the episode’s live premiere. Their age bracket was 0.9/6 adults between the ages of 18-49. Dancing With the Stars is still ranked as the No. 1 entertainment program at the Monday night 8-10 pm ET time slot, but The Voice isn’t so far behind.
The Voice has always had less viewers on average than DWTS, but is holding their own on their Monday night time slot. Last week, the competing networks both gained around 6 million average viewers at the time of their live premiere. Last week’s episode was The Voice‘s 500th episode and they announced that the series has had the highest viewership on the network for a decade.
Average Viewership for Both Shows is Low this Season, What Has Changed?
When Dancing With the Stars was newly on air, it would drag in an audience of over 20 million average viewers at a time. The show is now celebrating a 5.9 million average viewership as the largest audience of the season. I’m sure there are plenty of different factors that play into the show’s viewership decrease, but I think the largest is the fact that the show draws in viewers who are fans of specific people. Most people will no longer stick around once their favorite celebrity is eliminated. Ratings will always be different in that respect considering the same celebrities are never repeated on the show.
The Voice on the other hand, has never gotten the same viewership as Dancing With the Stars. When the series first premiered in 2011, it brought in 11.78 million viewers. In ten years, the show’s viewership has decreased by 4-6 million dependent on the episode.
Despite the Ariana Grande joining the show in season 21, The Voice is still drawing in 5-6 million viewers per episode. Similar to Dancing With the Stars, this could be because fans of the series are watching for their favorite celebrity coach. Once coaches leave the show, fans of that person will no longer want to view the show. I think it all comes down to the fact that the lack of live television viewers is the problem. Although DWTS has accounted for streaming by counting their streaming platform, they’re not accounting for binge watchers.
Could Binge Watching Be the Death of Our Favorite Talent Shows?
Binging a series is extremely popular these days. The person watching the show doesn’t have to “wait until next week” they instead know in a few minutes. They’re able to get their answers quickly and dedicate a few hours to the season as a whole. Some people prefer this method, so they’re the people that are not being accounted for in these rating reviews.
I think the recent ratings that both Dancing With the Stars and The Voice says alot for the shows. If they can still pull in 5-6 million viewers they’ve got to be doing something right. Whether it be the theme of on DWTS or the round of the competition The Voice is in, both series are bringing in rather large viewerships given the fact that they had been struggling at the beginning of the season. It will be interesting to see if the high viewership remains throughout the rest of these shows seasons.
