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. π )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. π Β More on this subject in a few days when I have time to write extensively on how he could fix this show. Β π
+1 Miss! So true about the judging and how messed up it is.
I can’t wait for you to write more extensively on this and the other projects you’ve talked on.
The voice was much better this season than the usual, there is so talent this season, the view on DWTS going against the voice every monday is pretty good IMO
The way this season ended did nothing to make people remember it positively.
I actually disagree with Conrad on some points, first, this could have been good. We saw pros and celebs stumble with these awful changes and non ballroom dances. It also lacked memorable dances. I feel like Apolo and Shawn were the only ones who delivered them. The winner? Nice but not memorable. That is a shame when it is all stars. I feel the show executed all stars poorly.
You tell him, Heidi!
Great comments, Heidi.
I think this All Star Season was a lost opportunity to see our favorite dancers 2.0. Instead of all the gimmics, I would have preferred that the producers embrace what they had. Instead of rinse and repeat of the normal format, I would love to have seen the pro/celeb pairs given a syllabus of the dance styles to be done this season. Let them then strategize themselves on what dance to do when. Give them the music of their choice (if it could be cleared), give some leeway with lifts and the like and let the great dancing commence.
For some flavor, do a trio dance or a group dance for fun every other week but basically you are letting these All Stars go to another level. I will admit that it might cost the viewers who only want to see the usual storyline but oh, how happy they would have made their hard core fans who have watched this show since Season One, like myself.
Great write-up Heidi. I can’t wait to see what else you come up with. How can it be that someone like Conrad doesn’t see what we see? Are they all that much in denial OR are they just not hearing what the viewers have been screaming for the last several seasons? Unbelievable. But, job well done.
Entirely possible they won’t care until they actually fall out of the top 10, Diane.
Way to go Heidi…the denial of the producer was incredible…way for him to ignore the elephant in the room. That being said the talent on the Voice this season is incredible…but I DVRed that…lol!!
@Melisaa #3 Totally agree
Without Derek Hough on DWTS my interest in the show is now zero. I’ve seen every episode since the first one and have been a die-hard fan until this season. The judging and the so-called ‘all stars’ were ridiculous. When did Melissa Rycroft become a star? I knew the minute she was cast it was set she would win. Her connection to the producers and others at ABC mandated it. Conrad has his work cut out for him with the upcoming season. I wish them the best but I won’t be tuning in.
One more thing, whoever told Tony he won by a landslide had to be joking. The only person I can think of that would have told Tony that is Maks.
I feel like the ratings erosion would have been WORSE without All Stars. Up against The Voice (which I also really like) and Football, I really think they would’ve lost even more viewers without a special season. I will be very surprised if the ratings are up at all when going back to a normal season – especially if Derek Hough leaves.
Next season I might skip it and watch The Voice instead. Derek made a great point that the fans have seen all the dances a hundred times and with the Producers puppeteering the judging, and possibly deciding the winner, they’ve taken all the fun out of it.
My biggest problem with this past season was that producers said it would be a tribute to the past 14 seasons. How the heck was that a tribute?! We had new dance styles – some not even ballroom. We had weird, funky twists. We had THREE double eliminations. If it truly was a tribute, they should’ve kept with the normal format and brought back past contestants to dance during the results show. It felt like DWTS on crack sometimes.
I do agree that the fun of a season is watching celebrities have a journey from no dancing experience to becoming a dancer, which is why I supported Kelly/Val. To me, they felt the most fresh (especially since I didn’t watch Season 1). But I still think that if they kept to a “second-chance” season with only runner ups, finalists & memorable contestants, it would’ve been an even better season.
Did they mention a premiere date for the spring? I know it will probably be in march.
Margaret, read the post through. π
Sorry Vogue, oops!
I think people expect a little story- boarding and might get bored without any at all. You notice I said a little and that is the rub. Getting just the right amount without making the viewers feel manipulated and turning them off. I would also like to see them return to the scoring of the earlier seasons, ie..Kelly receiving a 13 in season one. When the judges give out scores of 7,8 and 9’s in the first episode then they’ve painted themselves into a corner. However, I do understand that that they might have trouble signing up new stars if the judges start to score more realistically. I will watch next season because I am curious as to how the new pros will do, Val, Tristan and whomever might replace Cheryl is she decides to take a season off.
@Natalie
I agree with you on the story boarding. There is only so much a viewer can take before they feel like they are being manipulated.
I disagree with Mr. Conrad though when it comes to having already seen the celebs. It was the whole layout of the “All-Star” season that turned me off.
Can’t wait to see your comments on how to fix the show PH.Sorry if this has been asked but will we be getting some end of the season Cheesecakey goodness?
I don’t know if we’re doing cheesecake or not, actually. I haven’t thought about it, and I don’t know that Courtney has either. I may watch the show again this weekend and see if I come up with anything. Odds are more than a few people would get pissed off by it. π
@Ph and that has stopped you before? π
Actually, that could be called a motivating factor, Cher. π
@Heidi&Court:
If you ever find the inspiration for the cheesecake, I for one will gladly read it. Even if the few laughs we’d have would be rather caustic, it’s still better than crying. Let’s keep that for the truly dreary news out there, and remember that the show is about glitter and fun… even though TPTB seem hell-bent to rob us of our enjoyment.
LOL, PH and Cher! I need a little levity (or snark) at the moment!
I was so upset when Apolo was eliminated that I almost didn’t watch the finale. That was one of the big problems this season in my opinion–inconsistent and unfair scoring. The judges were down on Apolo and on Shawn all season, Len especially on Shawn. I agree with Derek, the program does not encourage originality in the choreography by the pros. Cheryl’s dances the past few seasons all seem the same to me. Not one stands out as memorable. Derek’s choreography was genius this season but it sure wasn’t rewarded. I did not like all the crazy dance mix-ups this season. Do the traditional dances, but allow the pros to do what they want to choreograph. Also so much of the music was not appropriate for the dance style given to a couple. Let the pros pick their music. Without Derek Hough it won’t be the same though. I look forward to Heidi’s comments on hwo to fix the show. She should really go produce that show. The ratings would soar!!!
I’m with you, PH – there may be more than 1 thing Conrad & Co. can do to fix DWTS, but IMO, Job #1 is judging, judging, JUDGING! It’s so inconsistent, it’s a farce. I’m with the folks who say they’d like a syllabus, but then I’d like to learn even more about ballroom dancing. And doing a syllabus would actually create a common set of rules, so that we could ALL see if Moe, Larry, and Curly are doing their jobs, or have some private agenda…
I don’t believe the judges, or TPTB, give a rats-ass about who wins DWTS. However, I *do* think TPTB give a rats-ass about who *reaches* the finale, because they are trying to skew the demographics of the people that watch the finale (which usually occurs in the sweeps period). But the manipulation needs to STOP. I think their mantra should be “Sign ’em up, let ’em dance, and score ’em the same”. No more, no less.
I think we’ve reached the stage that I’ve discussed before (as has Court) which is – the Law of Diminishing Returns. It’s an economists rule, but I think it applies. It applies to lots of things. Generally, they start doing things (hiring ppl like Bristol, manipulating the packages, storyboarding the contestants, leveling the judging for faux drama) to make it “exciting” or “dramatic” and thereby increase ratings (of your show or others) and at some point, you’re doing so much stuff that none of it adds anything to the ratings…in fact, the returns start diminishing. In this case, the ratings aren’t going up with all your crap, but down. Since TV is down over all, it’s not just YOU, but if you want to affect an increase against competition – stop doing shit. π
Stop treating your audience like a bunch of morons who don’t know a quickstep from an argentine tango. Most of your audience are likely fairly loyal fans and are smarter than that now. And those that are new?? Aren’t idiots either. Most of them with NO vested interest in a given pro or celeb can tell the difference between Kirstie’s dancing and Apolo’s dancing (just as an example). ONE judge (in this case Len), giving Kirsti a 6 and Apolo a 7 (week 1) OR giving Kirstie an 8 and Apolo a 9 (week 7) is going to make a lot of people go “REALLY???” There’s only so much of that that people are going to watch before they just turn it off. And your returns diminish.
I see Conrad Green is now claiming they aren’t “puppet masters”. Yeah right.
I hope this show could stick around for another four years, love this show.
If they don’t make some serious changes soon, it won’t last another two seasons, let alone four. People are getting disgusted with the unfairness of the judging and the comments indicating favoritism. Honestly, I don’t know what CAI’s going gaagaa over bare chests has to do with the scoring, yet at times it seems as if her score is indicative of the fact that the male partner was bare chested. Did you notice this All Star season had more bare chests than any other season? It sure did appear that way to me. If I want beef cake I’ll go see Chippendales. What I want to see is some ballroom dancing. I enjoy SYTYCD, but I don’t want to see DWTS turn into a second edition of SYTYCD and when they start thinking up dances like Surfer Flamenco, WTF? If you know what we need to do to get Conrad and Co to actually listen and climb out of their shell of denial, let us know b/c if they don’t start hearing us soon, this show is gonna tank. The natives are getting restless.
PH and Diana K – Totally agree!