Monday TV Ratings: ‘DWTS’ Premiere Struts to Lead Spot, on Par With 2019

Dancing with the Stars - Sasha Farber and Justina Machado
ABC/Eric McCandless

Season 29 of ABC’s celebrity dance competition series Dancing with the Starswith new host Tyra Banks and former dance pro Derek Hough returning as a judge — easily grabbed the number one spot in total viewers and the 18-49 demo for the Monday, September 14 primetime broadcast television schedule. The premiere saw 8.1 million viewers, tying with the September 2019 launch, and coming in with a strong 1.3 rating in the 18-49 demographic.

In second place for the night in both the demo and total viewers was the second week of the new, shortened season of NBC’s American Ninja Warrior. The sports competition series dipped a little from the previous week (3.5 million) but stayed strong against the competition. Also, following DWTS, ABC’s special Vote Or Miss Out won the 10 o’clock time slot in total viewers and tied with a 0.4 rating with NBC’s Dateline.

Here’s the breakdown for Monday, September 14, 2020 (numbers are fast-affiliate based):

Time Show Adults 18-49 rating Viewers (millions)
8 p.m. Dancing with the Stars – P  (ABC) 1.3 8.1
American Ninja Warrior: (NBC) 0.5 3.1
The Neighborhood – R (CBS) 0.4 2.9
Movie: Patriots Day (Fox) 0.3 1.3
Whose Line Is It Anyway? – R (CW) 0.2 1.1
8:30 p.m. Young Sheldon – R (CBS) 0.3 2.4
Whose Line Is It Anyway? – R (CW) 0.2 1.1
9:00 p.m. Love Island (CBS) 0.4 1.6
Penn & Teller: Fool Us (CW) 0.2 949,000
10 p.m. Vote or Miss Out (ABC) 0.4 3.0
Dateline NBC – (NBC) 0.4 2.8
Bull – R (CBS) 0.3 2.2