Karina Smirnoff and Jacoby Jones dance the last dance on Monday's 'Dancing With the Stars.' Photo credit: Adam Taylor/ABC
UPDATED WITH LATE NATIONAL NUMBERS:
Orlando, you still really love “Dancing With the Stars.”
The ABC contest pulled in a whopping 314,100 viewers with its season premiere Monday. The No. 1 show in the ratings last week, CBS’ “The Big Bang Theory,” drew 284,700 viewers. “Dancing” had suffered ratings erosion with an All-Stars version in the fall, but viewers evidently like the mix of new competitors. Wynonna, Dorothy Hamill, Jacoby Jones and Kellie Pickler are among the competitors.
In national ratings, “Dancing” brought good news to Disney-owned ABC. The contest averaged 17.1 million viewers. “Dancing” was up from the fall premiere by 21 percent in total viewers and 28 percent in the 18-to-49 age group.
ABC won the night in viewers and the 18-to-49 age group. The prime-time averages: ABC with 15.2 million total viewers, CBS with 8.2 million, Fox with 7.5 million, NBC with 6.1 million and The CW with 740,000.
ABC won the 10 p.m. hour with “Castle” (11.3 million) easily outdrawing CBS’ “Hawaii Five-O” (9 million) and the conclusion of NBC’s “Deception” (3.4 million).
Other programs of note: CBS’ “2 Broke Girls” with 8.6 million, CBS’ “Mike & Molly” with 8.4 million, Fox’s “Bones” with 7.6 million, the season finale of “The Biggest Loser” with 7.4 million, CBS’ “How I Met Your Mother” with 7.4 million and Fox’s “The Following” with 7.3 million.
In Orlando, No. 2 in the ratings was “Castle” with 210,300 viewers. Rounding out the top five were “The Following” with 122,900 viewers, “2 Broke Girls” with 120,300 and “Bones” with 109,400. One other program topped the 100,000-viewer mark: “Mike & Molly” with 102,000. Then came “Hawaii Five-O” with 87,200 viewers.
The top show in cable was ESPN’s telecast of the Miami Heat-Boston Celtics game with 83,600 viewers. The Heat won their 23rd straight game.
Next were ”How I Met Your Mother” with 83,300 viewers and the season finale of ”The Biggest Loser” with 77,500. Danni Allen won the weight-lost competition.
The top programs in the 25-to-54 age group were “2 Broke Girls,” “Dancing With the Stars,” “The Following,” “Castle” and “Mike & Molly.”
But the big news from Monday’s ratings: They’re dancing at ABC and Disney today.
