Dancing With The Stars Executive Producer Conrad Green Discusses TV Ratings And New Season

The season-finale of Dancing With The Stars was down in viewers numbers by 20% from “year to year” according to an article at USA Today. Executive Producer Conrad Green has explained why he thinks this might be. All in all and even though it’s had some tough competition this seaspn, he still feels like the Dancing With The Stars all star season was a successful one. He also comments on the next season of Dancing With The Stars and how they are already in “conversations” on the new cast. More below and at the link. While we’re on the subject of the new season, also note that the premiere date has been set for March 18th, 2013.

“In retrospect, one thing that was lacking was a lot of discovery about the dancers,” says Green. “I think we underestimated how important it was to see people come fresh to the ballroom and see a story start from zero.”

Most seasons, the dancers entertainingly stumble through the beginning phases. This season, viewers watched impressive celebrity dancers β€” many had won their own seasons β€” who sometimes rivaled the pros in their own skills.

“People who watched the season really enjoyed it. The level of dancing was amazing, and it was great to see dancers come back,” says Green. “But I have heard from people that they feel like I’ve seen these people dance before. That might have been a reason our ratings took a dip slightly. But the experiment with the All-Star season was a successful one, by and large.”

Green also points to increased competition from NBC’s popular The Voice, which for the first time overlapped both DWTS nights and even shared L.A. taping space.

“It’s very tough direct competition for a show that fights for the same type of audience,” says Green. “Bearing in mind the audience we’re still getting and what they are getting, it speaks volumes about both shows.”

Green hasn’t ruled out doing another All-Star season in the future (“never say never”). But in the spring, it will be a return to new dancers.

“We’re already having conversations,” said Green. “Next season will be a new start and a new cast who haven’t danced before. People will have a chance to get re-engaged.”

Conrad forgot to mention how Dancing With The Stars had competition with Monday night football as well.

Heidi is an expert in this area. Let’s see what she thinks….

Heidi: Heh – in a way, Conrad is right…but all shows are down over all, so it’s not like they’ve fallen completely out of favor. (Don’t pimp me too much, Vogue – I haven’t done an indepth study this season. πŸ™‚ )Of course, depending on how you read it, he sounds like he’s agreeing with me (again) – you’ve seen these people before, for sure. The natural extension from that comment is “…and some of them have already won.” Β  Of course, over all, your audience might just be on to you, Conrad – why watch a show where the judges are just acting ridiculous. Do you think that those of us on this website are the only ones that don’t understand how Kirstie Alley or a Bristol Palin scores only a point lower than Melissa, Apolo or Shawn in any given week?? Perhaps your ratings would be up if half or most of your audience didn’t scream “WTF???” when the scores are handed out after every dance. Β They hear how CAI is so sweet and kind to Kirstie, only to turn around and pick on Apolo’s chemistry with Karina and give him a score that is uncomfortable close to Kirstie’s when it is clear to EVERYONE that Apolo is ten times the dancer. Dude….get yo head out yo azzzz. πŸ™‚ Β More on this subject in a few days when I have time to write extensively on how he could fix this show. Β πŸ™‚