‘Dancing with the Stars’ reportedly losing big band for season 18

There are a few things that have become staples of “Dancing with the Stars” over the years, whether you are talking about the routines, the sequins, the pro dancers, and of course the music. Regardless of whether or not you like the interpretation of all of the songs on the show as conducted by the big house band, one of the reasons why the show was so endearing to us was because everything felt like it was original to the show. You weren’t going to see the dances anywhere else, and you weren’t going to hear the music anywhere else.

Now, we are hearing that for season 18, the show is not going to feature this large house band for the first time. The American Federation of Musicians confirmed this weekend that ABC is moving away from their traditional band for the new year, and going instead with a “small electronic band” along with a number of recorded compositions for the show. The group’s Facebook page suggests what sort of action you can take if you are unhappy about the move.

So why the change now? The argument listed on the page is that this is an attempt for the show to cater more of their music to a younger demographic, given that much of modern music today is more pop-oriented than anything that features a wide array of musicians. Still, we wonder about cutting costs. The show already trimmed costs once by moving the show to a new once-a-week format, and getting rid of more of the band could reduce it further. The truth here is that while the show has a huge viewer count, its numbers in the 18-49 demographic are low. We would’ve tried almost any other move before getting rid of the band, though, including replacing some of the on-air personalities (save for maybe host Tom Bergeron or judge Bruno Tonioli) with cheaper options.

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Photo: ABC