Dancing With the Stars Season 34 hits new viewership high as Dedication Night draws nearly 6 million viewers

Dancing With the Stars reached its highest audience of Season 34 during Tuesday’s Dedication Night episode, which drew 5.98 million total viewers, according to Nielsen live-plus-same-day figures.

According to live-plus-sameday Nielsen metrics and official ABC press releases, it is a 2% increase from the Disney Night that aired last week, which had 5.88 million viewers.

The show recorded very good ratings figures across the main demographics, reaching a 1.53 rating among adults 18–34, which was the highest for the series in this age group since November 2015.

For adults 18–49, the program got a 1.26 rating, thus the season high in that demographic was tied. Fan voting also hit an all-time high with 50.15 million votes being cast during the show.

Dancing With the Stars Season 34 achieves its highest viewership with 'Dedication Night'

Dedication Night performances

During Dedication Night, the remaining contestants performed routines honoring family, friends, and loved ones. Danielle Fishel reunited with her Boy Meets World co-star William Daniels for a jive.

In the prior episode, Hilaria Baldwin was sent home after coming in 11th place, so there are now ten celebs left to battle it out: Jen Affleck, Whitney Leavitt, Jordan Chiles, Alix Earle, Dylan Efron, Danielle Fishel, Elaine Hendrix, Scott Hoying, Robert Irwin, and Andy Richter.

The dances were a mix of foxtrot, jive, salsa, Viennese waltz, and contemporary. The competitors were assisted by the people who were the reasons for their dances.

Scores ranged from 24 to 36 points, with Dylan Efron leading the leaderboard. No celebrities were eliminated during Dedication Night, and future eliminations will be determined by fan votes combined with judges’ scores.

Viewership performance and engagement

During the 8–10 p.m. ET/PT time slot, Dancing With the Stars led broadcast competition in both total viewers and key demographics.

NBC’s The Voice averaged 4.77 million viewers and a 0.36 rating among adults 18–49, while CBS’s NCIS and NCIS: Origins averaged 4.50 million viewers and a 0.27 rating in the same demo.

The rise in viewership marks the fourth consecutive week of expansion following the recent debut of Season 34. The engagement on social media also hit a new high for the show, with 4 million total interactions being recorded across platforms during Dedication Night.

Voting by the fans for the episode broke a record for the first time, with 50.15 million votes being cast. It is an 11% increase over the 45 million votes that were cast during Disney Night.

Voting totals reflect participation across all available platforms, as reported by ABC. The episode’s social media activity also marked the highest level of the season to date, with total interactions across broadcast and cable networks surpassing previous weeks.

Comparison to competing programs

ABC’s Tuesday programming maintained its lead beyond the 8–10 p.m. time slot. At 10 p.m., High Potential drew 4.15 million viewers and achieved a 0.33 rating among adults 18–49, outperforming CBS’s NCIS: Sydney, which attracted 2.81 million viewers.

The total viewership for High Potential ranks as the highest among entertainment series this season when measured in live-plus-seven-day viewing, with an average of 7.47 million viewers.

The Season 2 premiere episode of High Potential has recorded 20 million total viewers across ABC, Hulu, Hulu on Disney+, and digital platforms as of October 15, 2025.

Overall, the Dedication Night episode recorded growth in total viewership, ratings among adults 18–34 and 18–49, social media interactions, and fan voting.

Dancing With the Stars episodes feature live performances evaluated by a judging panel and audience voting. Dedication Night included tributes to the participating celebrities’ loved ones.

The series is produced by BBC Studios and airs on ABC. The next episode, titled “Wicked Night,” is scheduled for Tuesday, October 21, 2025, at 8 p.m. ET/PT, with guest judge Jon M. Chu joining the panel.

The performances will feature music from the “Wicked” films, and the episode will be available for next-day streaming on Hulu.

Stay tuned for more updates.