ABC's DANCING WITH THE STARS Finale Jumps to Season Highs

By: Caryn Robbins Nov. 26, 2014

With a "Dancing" season recap special leading into the 2-hour season finale of "Dancing with the Stars," ABC dominated the final Tuesday of the November Sweep, outperforming runner-up CBS by 11% in Total Viewers (14.3 million vs. 12.9 million - snapping CBS' 9-week winning streak) and by 24% in Adults 18-49 (2.6/8 vs. 2.1/7). Building to season highs, ABC's "Dancing with the Stars" finale stood as Tuesday's No. 1 TV show in Total Viewers (15.8 million) and Adults 18-49 (2.9/9). In fact, the "Dancing" Season 19 closer was TV's most-watched unscripted series telecast in 9 months - since 2/24/14.

Scoring new season highs on the night in viewers and young adults, the Net marked its most-watched Tuesday overall since May 2012 - since 5/22/12. ABC was up over the same night last year (13.0 million and 2.5/7 on 11/26/13) in viewers and young adults.

"Dancing with the Stars" (9:00-11:00 p.m. - 15.8 million and 2.9/9 in AD18-49):
From 9:00-11:00 p.m., the Season 19 finale of "Dancing with the Stars" made ABC the No. 1 network across the board in the 2-hour time period, including Total Viewers, all key Adults (AD18-34/AD18-49/AD25-54), Teens 12-17 and Kids 2-11. Growing throughout its telecast and soaring to the top its final half-hour, as actor Alfonso Ribeiro won the coveted Mirror Ball Trophy, "Dancing" delivered 16.6 million viewers and a 3.1/10 in Adults 18-49 from 10:30-11:00 p.m..

Up over the prior night's Monday finale in viewers and young adults (+6%/+16%) to achieve new season bests, "DWTS" earned the series' top numbers for any single telecast since September 2013 - since 9/16/13.

"DWTS" was up from its year-ago Tuesday finale (14.8 million and 2.4/7 on 11/26/13) by 1.0 million viewers and by 21% in Adults 18-49. In fact in viewers and young adults, "DWTS" had its best finale numbers in 4 seasons (fall or spring) - since 11/27/12.

A note about increasing DVR penetration and year-to-year rating comparisons: Year-to-year rating comparisons based on the Live + Same Day data stream are distorted by the level of DVR penetration in the Nielsen sample, which has jumped up to 49% currently, from 48% at the same point in 2013. More viewers are watching shows on their own timetables, which may not be reflected in the overnight next day numbers. The only truly valid year-to-year comparison would be one based on the Live + 7 Day metric, once those stats are released by Nielsen.

Source: The Nielsen Company, Fast Affiliate Live + Same Day Ratings for 11/25/14.