‘Dancing with the Stars’ Continues to Shatter Records — Growing Two Weeks in a Row Since Season Premiere for First Time Since 2005

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ABC’s formidable Tuesday lineup notched another win this week with both “Dancing with the Stars” and “High Potential” continuing their upward trend. The shows’ strong performances in week three pushed ABC to a resounding win for the night in entertainment among both Total Viewers (5.30 million) and Adults 18-49 (0.92 rating), with the network leading second place NBC by double digits in Total Viewers (+59% – 5.30 million vs. 3.33 million) and triple digits among Adults 18-49 (+197% – 0.92 rating vs. 0.31 rating).

“Dancing with the Stars” (8 p.m. ET/PT)

• “Dancing with the Stars” Season 34 continued to dazzle audiences this week with the show earning 5.82 million Total Viewers and a 1.22 rating among Adults 18-49, hitting a season high in both measures and dominating the 8-10 p.m. time period.

• In a record-setting turn of events, “Dancing with the Stars” rose for the second straight week since its season premiere for the first time in 20 years — since the show’s first three weeks on air in June 2005.
• In addition, demonstrating strong interest in the show’s festive TikTok night, “Dancing with the Stars” turned in the show’s strongest performance among Adults 18-34 (1.38 rating) in over eight years (since 5/22/17).
• In fact, “Dancing with the Stars” earned the best Adults 18-34 rating for any entertainment series telecast in over four years (since 8/9/21 with “The Bachelorette,” excluding post-NFL telecasts), and scored the top entertainment telecast in the younger Adult demographic on any network since this year’s Oscars® telecast (3/2/25), outperforming marquee live events including CBS’ Golden Globe Awards (1.25 rating on 1/5/25), NBC’s “SNL50: The Anniversary Special” (1.29 rating on 2/16/25) and CBS’ MTV Video Music Awards (0.88 rating on 9/7/25).
• “Dancing with the Stars” was the 1 most social television program across broadcast and cable, earning 2.7 million total social interactions and rising by double digits over last week’s episode (+32% vs. 2.1 million).

• Continuing to break records yet again, fan voting jumped week to week, reaching a new high of 39 million votes cast (+11% vs. 35 million votes cast on 9/23).

“High Potential” (10 p.m. ET/PT)

• In its Live+Same Day performance, “High Potential” hit a season high in Total Viewers (4.24 million), growing by double digits over the show’s comparable third episode from last fall (+19% vs. 3.57 million on 10/8/24).
• In addition, the season premiere episode has now garnered 17.8 million Total Viewers across linear and streaming on ABC, Hulu, Hulu on Disney+ and digital platforms through 10/1/25.

“Dancing with the Stars” returns Tuesday, Oct. 7, for the show’s popular “Disney Night” (airing at 8 p.m. EDT/PDT on ABC and Disney+, streaming next day on Hulu). It’s the most enchanting night of the season as “Dancing with the Stars” celebrates the spirit of Disney, in honor of the Disneyland Resort 70th Celebration. The 11 remaining couples take the ballroom on a wondrous journey, dancing to songs inspired by beloved Disney films and attractions.

“Dancing with the Stars” is produced by BBC Studios.

Source: Nielsen National Live+Same Day Big Data Plus Panel Program Ratings for 9/30/25. Adjusted National Live+Same Day Big Data Plus Panel Program Ratings for 9/23/25 and 9/16/25. 24/25 based on Big Data Plus Panel, while prior years are panel-only. Talkwalker SCR.

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