“Dancing with the Stars” Returns to Strong Ratings

ABC(NEW YORK) — The season premiere of Dancing with the Stars earned a ratings victory over stiff competition on Monday night.

The 17th-season opener of the ABC competition was the most-watched program of the night, drawing an audience of 16.2 million viewers. That’s an increase of two million viewers from the 2012 fall season premiere of Dancing with the Stars, but a drop of nearly one million from this year’s spring season debut.

The series premiere of the Fox drama Sleepy Hollow aired opposite Dancing with the Stars and attracted 10 million viewers. However, it won the night in the advertiser-coveted 18- to 49-year-old demographic.

The season finale of the CBS hit Under the Dome, which aired after Dancing with the Stars had signed off, was seen by 11.8 million people.

Football programming makes up most of the Nielsen’s top 10 for the week ending Sunday. NBC’s Sunday Night Football broadcast, featuring the Seattle Seahawks’ blowout of the San Francisco 49ers, is in the top spot with 20.54 million viewers.

NBC won the network ratings race for the week, followed by CBS, ABC, Fox, Univision, ION Television, Telemundo and the CW.

Here are the top 10 primetime network and cable programs for the week of Sept. 9-15, according to the Nielsen Company:

1. NFL Football: San Francisco at Seattle, NBC, 20.54 million.
2. Football Rain Delay, NBC, 17.84 million.
3. NFL Football: Philadelphia at Washington, ESPN, 16.52 million.
4. Sunday Night NFL Pre-Kick, NBC, 15.22 million.
5. 60 Minutes, CBS, 12.45 million.
6. Football Night in America, NBC, 11.31 million.
7. NFL Football: Houston at San Diego, ESPN, 10.95 million.
8. America’s Got Talent (Wednesday), NBC, 10.08 million.
9. Under the Dome, CBS, 9.72 million.
10. America’s Got Talent (Tuesday), NBC, 9.24 million.

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