Dancing with the Stars: A Comeback Story

A Record-Breaking Finale

Dancing with the Stars is back and better than ever. The show, inspired by the British series Strictly Come Dancing, just had its most-watched finale since 2016. Robert Irwin and Witney Carson won the competition, but the real victory was the show's ratings.

The finale drew in 9.24 million viewers, a significant milestone. It's the highest number of viewers since 2016 when Laurie Hernandez and Valentin Chmerkovskiy won. The show also achieved a 2.15 rating among adults aged 18-49, the best performance since 2015.

A Massive Jump from Last Season

This year's finale had 89% more viewers in the 18-49 age group compared to last year's finale, which only drew 6.37 million viewers.

ABC's Triumphant Boast

ABC, the network airing the show, proudly announced that the finale had more viewers in the 18-49 age group than CBS's entire primetime schedule last week. It also had more than double the viewers of NBC's primetime schedule during the same period.

A Season of Success

The show has been thriving all season. In October, ratings increased for the second week in a row, a feat not seen in 20 years. The Wicked-themed episode was particularly popular.

Fans' Engagement at an All-Time High

Fans were highly engaged, with over 72 million votes cast during the finale. This is a 31% increase from the semifinals and a 125% increase from last season's finale. Across the entire season, nearly half a billion votes were cast.