After Season as Disney+ Exclusive, ‘Dancing With the Stars’ Heads Back to ABC; Why Did Disney Change Its Mind?
“Dancing With the Stars” is sashaying back to ABC. That’s according to a report from Vulture, which states that after one season as a Disney+ exclusive, the series will move back to its longtime broadcasting home starting next season.
There is good news for audiences who prefer watching via streaming, however; Vulture reports that Disney will continue to livestream episodes of “DWTS” on Disney+, in addition to airing new episodes on ABC. Next-day streams of episodes will be available on-demand on both Disney+ and Hulu, which serves as the repository for the rest of ABC’s primetime shows after their initial airing.
The move to send “DWTS” back to broadcast TV represents CEO Bob Iger sweeping away another vestige of the old Disney leadership regime. Former CEO Bob Chapek and his Disney Media and Entertainment Distribution (DMED) division were behind the initial migration of the show from linear TV to streaming, but when Iger returned to the chairman position in November DMED was one of the first things to go. Iger put creatives back in charge of decision-making at the company, and the return of “DWTS” to ABC is just the latest result of that move.
The decision to bring the series back to broadcast TV fits with Iger’s big-picture strategy when it comes to streaming at Disney. The company is still seeing big losses from its streaming segment, as its services Disney+, Hulu, and ESPN+ combined are costing the company more than $1 billion every quarter. “DWTS” has always been a big ratings draw for Disney, and the company saw zero ad revenues from its first season on streaming, as Disney+ did not have an ad-supported tier until December of last year.
There’s no doubt that restoring “DWTS” to its old home on ABC will help revitalize the show’s following. The average age of a “DWTS” viewer is nearly 64 years old, and older generations have always been far more comfortable watching a show on TV than via streaming. Vulture’s report states that the show was a loss leader for Disney+, and now that it’s headed back to TV the company can count on more ad revenue and a bigger share of the audience.
If the show is successful as a broadcast/livestream hybrid, it could convince Disney to do likewise with other programming. The company has embraced livestreaming on Disney+ slowly, and in the United States the service has offered a select few live events, like the Academy Award nominations announcement and an animated stream of an NHL hockey game featuring characters from “Big City Greens.”
Disney owns too many traditional TV channels to execute a pivot to primarily streaming in the near future. Its streaming arm would have to become profitable before any such move, which could still take years to achieve. Iger is continuing to send a strong message in the meantime; the old regime is gone, and so are many of its policies regarding streaming.
Disney+
Disney+ is a video streaming service with over 13,000 series and films from Disney, Pixar, Marvel, Star Wars, National Geographic, The Muppets, and more. It is available in 61 countries and 21 languages. It is notable for its popular original series like “The Mandalorian,” “Ms. Marvel,” “Loki,” “Obi-Wan Kenobi,” and “Andor.”