Sunday Night TV Ratings: ‘Dancing With the Stars’ Takes a Tumble

Many Americans spent Sunday in front of their TVs this holiday weekend, though ratings were low for Dancing With the Stars: Juniors.

Thanksgiving weekend football broadcasts helped boost many Sunday’s usual prime time line-ups on Sunday night, according to a report by The Hollywood Reporter. While NBC and CBS saw some promising numbers, things did not look quite as good for ABC‘s Dancing With the Stars spin-off.

DWTS: Juniors managed just a 0.6 Nielsen rating in the key demographic of adults ages 18-49. This is down a bit from last week, and does not spell good news for the franchise. Both Dancing With the Stars programs struggled to keep their audience this season, and some feel that after 27 seasons, it is time to let the concept rest for a while.

Oddly, DWTS: Juniors got a solid lead-in from America’s Funniest Home Videos. The clip show had its best rating of the season with a 0.9, and a total audience of 6.22 million. Afterward, the ratings actually rose for Shark Tank to reach a 0.7 — which is pretty unusual for a time slot that late.

Of course, there are no conclusive analyses to be drawn from these numbers yet, but it is possible that AFV suited groups who were gathered to watch football games, and wanted something on in the background afterward.

It is also very possible that DWTS: Juniors will see a boost later in the week, when the later viewings through DVRs and streaming services are accounted for. Thanksgiving weekend is a hectic time of travel, hosting and frantic food preparation, and it could be that the audience was too occupied to tune in live. Additionally, many Americans were trapped in airports on Sunday night as hundreds of flights were canceled and delayed for Winter Storm Bruce.

Overall, it was a great night for broadcasters and advertisers, judging by TV ratings. NBC’s broadcast of the Packers-Vikings game hit a staggering 13.2 rating — and an 8 percent gain from this weekend last year. CBS also saw some big gains from its broadcast of the Steelers-Broncos game, which ran long into the prime time block and offset the network’s schedule a bit.

A heart-wrenching episode of 60 Minutes pulled a 2.1 rating in the key demographic. It took a hard and timely look at the Trump administration’s immigration policies and practices, including some footage of a family reuniting with their young daughter after four months of separation.

After that, a late broadcast of God Friended Me scored a 1.0 rating, followed by NCIS: Los Angeles with a 0.8 and Madam Secretary with a 0.6. All-in-all, CBS matched the ratings from its last NFL doubleheader weekend.