Despite delivering its lowest ratings of 2015, NBC’s “The Voice” easily bested ABC’s season premiere of “Dancing With the Stars” in key demos on Monday, another night of depressed ratings for most shows on the major networks. “Dancing,” meanwhile, was down double-digits from its recent premieres as it kicked off its 20th edition.
According to preliminary national estimates from Nielsen, “The Voice” averaged a 3.3 rating/10 share in adults 18-49 and 12.2 million viewers overall from 8 to 10 p.m., easily besting in demos the season premiere of “Dancing With the Stars” (2.0/7 in 18-49, 14.0 million viewers overall). The NBC show, which was down 0.5 from its national rating of last week, won in all under-55 categories and expanded its lead as the night wore on, prevailing by a big 71% margin in 18-49 in the 9:30 p.m. half-hour (3.6 vs. 2.1).
“Dancing With the Stars” is projected to finish down 16% from its year-ago premiere (2.1 vs. 2.5) and 13% lower than its fall premiere (2.4), which came the week before “The Voice” bowed. Exhibiting an older skew, “Dancing” was up 3% in total viewers from its fall launch (14.0 million vs. 13.6 million) and easily beat “The Voice” head-to-head (14.0 million vs. 12.2 million) to stand as Monday’s most-watched program overall.
