ABC Acknowledges 'Dancing With the Stars' Voting Problems
So many viewers voted after Monday's 'Dancing With the Stars' finale that they temporarily overwhelmed the show's voting system.ABC has acknowledged that "a record amount of activity" had overloaded its online and telephone voting systems after Monday's show. In a statement, the network said that "Some viewers reported experiencing difficulties registering their votes for the 'Dancing With the Stars' finale, which affected each finalist equally."
The statement went on to say that as the issue was "promptly addressed," voting times were not extended. Viewer votes accounted for half of the contestants' overall scores toward the title.
There hasn't been this much attention surrounding the finale of a reality series since the debut season of 'Survivor' aired on CBS in 2000. Early seasons of Fox's 'American Idol' also led to huge numbers of viewers voting after performance episodes. According to deadline.com, the final Nielsen ratings for Monday show that 'Dancing With The Stars' posted the strongest results for a 'Dancing' performance finale in six seasons.
Almost 24 million viewers tuned in to watch the final performances (up 3.3 million from last year), and the show scored a high 4.9 rating in the coveted age 18-49 demographic. By contrast, the premiere episode of 'Skating With the Stars,' which aired right after 'Dancing,' hemorraghed viewers, ending up with 9.4 million and a steadily declining rating that sank from 4.4 in the first 30 minutes, to 1.4 in the last 30.

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