Skip to main content

Dancing with the Stars is moving to Disney+ this fall

Usually, the only time a network TV show makes the jump to streaming is after it has been canceled. But Dancing With the Stars is following its own path to the streaming realm. Disney has announced that Dancing with the Stars is leaving ABC after 30 seasons and moving to Disney+ this fall.

The reality competition show features professional dancers paired with celebrities in a multi-week bid to win the top prize. Dancing with the Stars made its debut on ABC in 2015, and the network has been able to produce multiple seasons per year. While the series was no longer at the top of the ratings, it was a perennial well-performing show for ABC. The Disney+ pickup is for at least two additional seasons of the series.

To fill the newfound gap in its schedule, Disney-owned ABC is turning to Monday Night Football in the fall, a return of the franchise after it was solely available on ESPN for over a decade. After the fall, ABC plans to use the Monday night 8 p.m. to 10 p.m. slot to “develop and invest in new and future programming.”

Two contestants from Dancing With the Stars.

In a new statement, Disney Media and Entertainment chairman Kareem Daniel said “Dancing with the Stars has entertained fans for 16 years on ABC, and we are excited to bring this beloved show exclusively to Disney+ as the platform’s first-ever live series. The show’s broad appeal, as well as the overwhelming popularity of its Disney-themed competition nights, make Disney+ the perfect home for Dancing with the Stars while continuing to expand our demographic reach.”

Dancing with the Stars has been a beloved staple on ABC for 30 seasons and brought so much joy to millions of viewers,” added Walt Disney Television Chairman of Entertainment Dana Walden. “As we’re significantly expanding our unscripted slate at ABC, this is a great opportunity to introduce this show to a whole new generation of fans on Disney+. We’re so grateful to our incredible partners at BBC Studios and look forward to continuing our relationship with them on this spectacular series, which will continue to be overseen by Rob Mills and the talented Walt Disney Television Alternative team.”

At the moment, Disney+ hasn’t announced which celebrities will participate in the new season of Dancing with the Stars when it makes its streaming debut this fall.

Editors' Recommendations

Blair Marnell
Blair Marnell has been an entertainment journalist for over 15 years. His bylines have appeared in Wizard Magazine, Geek…
5 questions we have after The Mandalorian season 3 episode 7
Bo-Katan stands near her fellow Mandalorians in The Mandalorian season 3 episode 7.

The Mandalorian really didn’t hold back this week.

The penultimate episode of the Disney+ series' third season, titled The Spies, takes more than a few shocking turns. Not only does it open with the long-awaited return of Moff Gideon (Giancarlo Esposito), but it also ends with the Imperial warlord taking Din Djarin (Pedro Pascal) hostage and launching a deadly ambush on Bo-Katan (Katee Sackhoff) and her Mandalorian followers. In case that wasn’t bad enough, it’s also revealed in the episode that Moff Gideon has been hiding out on Mandalore all along — mining its precious resources and building a secret Imperial base.

Read more
What the hell happened to The Mandalorian?
Bo-Katan holds the Darksaber while standing next to Din Djarin in The Mandalorian season 3 episode 6.

The Mandalorian has always wanted to have its cake and eat it, too. Across its first two seasons, the series attempted to blend sidequest-heavy, episodic storytelling with one longform, serialized story. While the show never found the perfect balance between those two modes, its first two seasons both came together well in the end. Unfortunately, The Mandalorian season 3 hasn’t been quite as effective.

Over the course of its first six episodes, The Mandalorian’s latest season has struggled to maintain any kind of singular, serialized story. Instead, it has delivered a handful of sidequests and one-note villains that so far haven’t amounted to much. Along the way, the series has loosely threaded together its latest batch of adventures with a story about Bo-Katan Kryze (Katee Sackhoff) and Din Djarin (Pedro Pascal) setting out to retake Mandalore, which has progressed at a frustratingly uneven pace.

Read more
A new Star Wars quest begins in the first trailer for Ahsoka
Rosario Dawson as Ahsoka Tano in Ahsoka.

Today at Star Wars Celebration, Lucasfilm unveiled trailers for three of its upcoming Star Wars series. Unfortunately, the only trailer that the fans at home will get to see is for Ahsoka, a new original show featuring Rosario Dawson as the fan-favorite heroine from Star Wars: The Clone Wars. As revealed during her guest appearance on The Mandalorian, Ahsoka is seeking out an old enemy, Grand Admiral Thrawn, a popular character from the Star Wars novels. And his return as "the heir to the Empire" is something that has Ahsoka deeply concerned.

Ahsoka | Teaser Trailer | Disney+

Read more