Dancing With the Stars just kicked off a new season earlier in September and fans were thrilled, awaiting the first elimination in the next episode. However, with week two of the dancing competition many fans will have to wait to see who is the first elimination thanks to Monday Night Football.
Regional broadcasts of national football games is nothing new for the many affiliates located around the country. It can interrupt the national schedule a bit but it just means some viewers are a bit behind compared to others. The difference this season is how Dancing With the Stars is only on once a week on Mondays, placing it directly in the path of the NFL and creating a sort of Russian roulette for fans around the nation.
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For the Sept. 23 episode, Monday Night Football‘s showdown between the Washington Redskins and Chicago Bears will be pre-empted in the surrounding D.C. area on WJLA ABC 7 while Chicago residents are getting a special deal thanks to WGN.
Redskins take centerstage Monday night from FEDEX field against the Bears. As the burgundy and gold bask in the glory of the primetime lights…ABC7 is there from pre-game…to kickoff…to the final play…watch Monday Night Football starting at 8 on @ABC7News. pic.twitter.com/IaBZvxcA0n
— ABC 7 News – WJLA (@ABC7News) September 22, 2019
As they’ve done in the past, ABC7 will delay Dancing With the Stars until 1:35 a.m. ET following Jimmy Kimmel Live and Nightline. The affiliate delayed the reality competition twice in 2017 due to Redskins Monday Night Football games against the Philadelphia Eagles and the Kansas City Chiefs. It also happened in 2016 according to For The Win but the network decided to air the episode the following morning. At the time, people were very upset.
“NO, I am NOT watching [Dancing With the Stars] because our local market DC, VA, MD is showing a stupid football game,” one angry viewer wrote.
What corporate exec at @ABC_Publicity or @DancingABC do I need to speak to about DC stations showing Monday Night Football instead of #DWTS?
— 💁♀️ (@jk07) September 13, 2016
“Yes, what about DC area?!? Redskins game on ESPN. No need to preempt DWTS. Other viewing options? How will this effect voting?” another asked at the time.
Chicago residents will actually get to watch Dancing With the Stars live on Monday night. As the Chicago Tribune reports, WGN-9 managed to get the rights for the Monday Night Football game due to ABC’s commitments to DWTS and The Good Doctor.
“Typically, ABC-7 would pick up an ESPN game because the two outlets are corporate cousins within the Walt Disney Co., and most Chicago-area viewers watch it on that channel rather than the cable outlet,” the Chicago Tribune states. “But Monday is the beginning of the new network fall television season and so ABC-7 is obliged to carry a two-hour edition of Dancing With the Stars and the third-season debut of The Good Doctor.”
No matter what, expect a lot of angry Dancing With the Stars fans on Monday night given the circumstances and fan voting. It could get ugly.
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