BREAKING: ABC to Condense DANCING WITH THE STARS Into One Night Next Season

In a press conference today, ABC announced that it's long-running dance competition DANCING WITH THE STARS will air from 8 p.m.. to 10 p.m. Mondays starting in the fall, followed by 'Castle.' The competitive portion of the show will be combined with the results show into a single program.

"We want to focus it in," ABC Entertainment president Paul Lee told reporters. "We're planning to do two seasons, and we think by taking the results show and building it into the two-hour block on Monday night, we can really build a sense of occasion to that and drive viewership to Monday night."

The network and BBC Worldwide Productions, which produces "DWTS," are still working out how the combined performance and results show will work. Lee maintained that it's "absolutely" possible to have an audience-vote component within the show, but other changes, including the number of celebrities competing, may be among the show's new features.

Lee explained that by eliminating a separate results show, another hour in the network's schedule is now freed up. The network plans to fill that void with the highly anticipated "Marvel's Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D." "We had very, very strong development this year, so [eliminating the Tuesday results show] allows us to put 'S.H.I.E.L.D.' in at 8 o'clock on Tuesday, which we think is a perfect place for that show," Lee says. "It's a one-two punch for us."

'DWTS' premiered in the summer of June, 2005. The last few seasons of the show have seen a steady decline in ratings.

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