Ratings Report for Wednesday, Sept. 16, 2026

Live+Same Day Big Data Plus Panel Ratings

'Dancing with the Stars' Season 35 'Two-Night Premiere: Night 2' Swings to 6.44 Million Total Viewers as the Ladies Take Their Turn in the Ballroom

The Show's Two-Night Average Stands as Most-Watched 'Dancing with the Stars' Premiere in 6 Years

· On the heels of Tuesday night, which delivered the show's most-watched premiere in six years, night two of the "Dancing with the Stars" premiere week scored 6.44 million Total Viewers and a 1.32 rating among Adults 18-49 Wednesday night.

· "Dancing with the Stars" ranked as TV's No. 1 show in Total Viewers and Adults 18-49 on both Tuesday and Wednesday across all entertainment programming, including viewership of streaming originals, based on newly available overnight Nielsen Streaming Content Ratings.

· Tuesday's premiere (6.77 million and 1.44 rating) topped its nearest linear competitor, NBC's "America's Got Talent," by +53% in Total Viewers (4.43 million) and by +260% in Adults 18-49 (0.40 rating), and led its nearest competitors on streaming, Paramount+'s "Special Ops: Lioness" (848,000 Total Viewers on day 3 of availability for its most recent episode) and HBO Max's "Lanterns" (0.35 Adults 18-49 rating on day 3 of availability for its most recent episode).

· Wednesday's special telecast led its nearest competition in primetime on linear, NBC's "America's Got Talent-Wed" (3.82 million) in Total Viewers and CBS' "Big Brother-Wed" (0.58 rating) in Adults 18-49, and outperformed the day's top streaming title, Amazon's "Reacher" (4.79 million and 1.08 rating, respectively, on the premiere day of its most recent episode) in both measures.

· In Adults 18-49, "Dancing with the Stars" Night 1 (1.44 rating) and Night 2 (1.32 rating) stand as TV's two biggest entertainment telecasts since ABC's presentation of "The Oscars(R)" (3/15/26).

· Tuesday's season premiere jumped +35% over last year's premiere among Adults 18-49 (1.44 rating vs. 1.07 rating), with the show's best premiere performance in the key Adult demographic in nine years - since 9/18/17.

· In addition, among young women, "Dancing with the Stars" scored its best season premiere delivery among Women 18-34 (2.50 rating) in 13 years - since the Season 17 premiere on 9/16/13.

· Wednesday's 10 p.m. first-ever "DWTS After Party" delivered a 0.48 rating in Adults 18-49, scoring the best 10 p.m. telecast of any network in over 2 1/2 years - since 2/28/24, with NBC's "Chicago PD," based on regularly-scheduled entertainment programming, excluding NFL/event lead-in nights.

"Dancing with the Stars" is produced by BBC Studios.

"Dancing with the Stars" returns with "Viral Hits Night" on Tuesday, Sept. 22, at 8 p.m. on ABC and Disney+, streaming next day on Hulu. The celebrities and their professional partners will hit the dance floor with performances inspired by some of the biggest viral hits and unforgettable moments that have taken the internet by storm.

Source: Nielsen National Live+Same Day Big Data Plus Panel Program Ratings for 9/16/26 and 9/15/26. 24/25 Season comparisons based on Big Data Plus Panel, while prior seasons are Panel Only. Streaming data based on Nielsen National Panel-Only Streaming Content Ratings for 9/15 and 9/16/26.