"Dancing with the Stars" Premiere Experiences Ratings Drop - East Idaho News
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“Dancing with the Stars” Premiere Experiences Ratings Drop

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abc dancing with stars logo jp 110829 wb?  SQUARESPACE CACHEVERSION=1332322201789ABC, Inc.(NEW YORK) — Monday’s premiere of the 14th edition of ABC’s Dancing with the Stars attracted 18.5 million viewers, four million less than the spring 2011 installment, according to E! Online.

Dancing with the Stars may have been missing some viewers, but ABC’s new drama series, Missing, didn’t miss many.  The series, which stars Ashley Judd as a former CIA agent trying to locate a teenage son in Europe, debuted in ninth place in the Nielsen ratings with 10.6 million viewers.

Wednesday’s edition of American Idol on Fox was the most-watched primetime show last week, attracting 18.3 million viewers.  The Thursday installment of American Idol was the second most-watched show.

Solid ratings for Missing, combined with 9.1 million viewers watching the season finale of The Bachelor, and a 10th place finish in the Nielsen top 10 for Modern Family, led ABC to a second-place finish in the weekly ratings race behind CBS.  Fox was third, followed by NBC, the CW and ION.

AMC’s season finale of Walking Dead drew a series and network-record of nine million viewers.

ABC’s Desperate Housewives attracted nine million viewers — its best showing in four months.

Sunday’s Lady Gaga interview on Oprah’s Next Chapter on OWN attracted just 808,000 viewers.  In comparison, Winfrey’s conversation with members of Whitney Houston’s family, including her daughter, on March 11, drew 3.5 million viewers, according to USA Today.

Here are the top 10 primetime programs for the week of March 12-18, according to the Nielsen Company:

1. American Idol (Wednesday), Fox, 18.38 million
2. American Idol (Thursday), Fox, 16.02 million
3. The Voice, NBC, 14.52 million
4. NCIS, CBS, 12.98 million
5. CSI: Crime Scene Investigation, CBS, 11.71 million
6. Criminal Minds, CBS, 11.43 million
7. NCIS: Los Angeles, CBS, 11.33 million
8. 60 Minutes, CBS, 10.8 million
9. Missing, ABC, 10.603 million
10. Modern Family, ABC, 10.6 million

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