Dancing With the Stars is back on ABC with noticeably stronger early ratings for its Season 35 premiere.
The competition series opened its new season Tuesday to 6.67 million viewers, according to preliminary Nielsen ratings, marking a 24 percent increase over its 2025 premiere, which drew 5.38 million viewers. The debut also came in slightly above the show’s full-season average of 6.5 million viewers last season.
Those early numbers make the Season 35 opener the most watched Dancing With the Stars season premiere since Season 29 in September 2020.
The gains were even sharper in the advertiser-coveted adults 18-49 demographic. The premiere delivered a 1.48 rating in that group, up 40 percent from last year’s premiere and ahead of every episode from last season except the finale. The last DWTS season premiere to post a higher adults 18-49 rating aired in September 2017.
The show also posted a notable performance among women 18-34, where the premiere earned a 2.53 rating. That was the strongest rating for a Dancing With the Stars season opener in that demographic since Season 17 in 2013.
Early Numbers Point to Continued Momentum
The Season 35 launch suggests Dancing With the Stars carried its recent ratings strength through the offseason rather than cooling down between cycles. In total viewers, the premiere not only improved meaningfully on last year’s debut but also edged past the prior season’s average audience.
In adults 18-49, the comparison is even more pronounced. A 40 percent year-over-year jump for a returning broadcast series is a significant early indicator, though the current figures are still preliminary. The final ratings could shift once Nielsen’s big data component is included.
The premiere episode featured the show’s eight male celebrity contestants performing with their professional partners. The episode did encounter a voting issue: viewers were unable to select their favorites through the DWTS website and had to vote by text instead.
What Happens Next?
The Season 35 rollout continues Wednesday, when the eight women celebrities are scheduled to take the floor for their first dances.
For now, ABC’s long-running competition has opened its latest season with its strongest premiere audience in years and major year-over-year growth in the key ratings categories tracked in the early Nielsen data.