Dancing with the Stars 26 premiere date coming later than usual

When Dancing with the Stars 26 premieres on ABC in the new year, it’s going to be for a shorter season than you’re accustomed to. Not only that, but you’re also going to see it starting several weeks later.

In a new post on Twitter, show host Tom Bergeron confirmed that the upcoming all-athlete edition of the ABC reality show is premiering in April, and that the 27th season should premiere in its standard timeslot this coming fall. The big reason for the change this time around is likely due to ABC messing around with their schedule due to the Winter Olympics. There’s the broadcast of the games coming right in the middle of The Bachelor, and it’s possible that the network could put that show on ice and air Bachelor Winter Games during the time in which the Olympics themselves are on the air. Clearly the folks at ABC are not altogether interested in losing viewers for some of their main franchises because of the Olympics.

So why does this schedule matter so much when it comes to casting? One thing that it probably does for Dancing with the Stars is that it allows them to cast athletes who were a part of the Winter Olympics or maybe even current NBA players who don’t end up making the playoffs and want something else to do during the off-season. They will still have access to NFL stars so they don’t have anything to worry about there.

Having a shortened season of Dancing with the Stars does make a little more sense than cutting down on The Bachelor. While Dancing with the Stars does air more during the November and May sweeps periods, at the same time it doesn’t receive the same sort of ratings in the 18-49 demographic these days. It makes a little more sense for ABC to bank bigger on The Bachelor since that is the show at the moment that seems to be drawing the bigger overall viewership in the demo.

What do you think about the Dancing with the Stars 26 premiere date coming so much later than usual? Be sure to share in the comments! Once there is more news to report on some of these shows we’ll absolutely have it for you here at the site.

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