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Ratings Report: 'Dancing' & 'Pirates' Treasure
by Dan Gomez, assistant research director
Monday night, the hit ABC series "Dancing with the Stars" returned for a fourth season bringing in 21.8 million viewers, its best premiere to date.
Now, as most people know, Disney decided to debut the trailer for their summer blockbuster "Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End" during the show. Could Captain Jack Sparrow have helped the series discover a treasure chest of ratings gold? I'm sure the Mouse House, who owns ABC, is hoping that's the case. Now, as one who holds an annual pass to Disneyland, I can honestly say that the classic attraction that the successful franchise is based on is one of my favorites. Nothing says wholesome family fun more than watching pirates pillage and burn a seaside village. Yo ho indeed!
But in this age of TIVO, I'm willing to bet hardcore "Pirates" fans and film geeks recorded the show to watch the trailer or just waited until it hit the web. I know I didn't watch.
In my humble opinion, I think "Dancing's" ratings success had less to do with Captain Jack and more to do with Heather Mills. Yes, that Heather Mills. Beyond the fact that she is the show's first dancer with an artificial leg, Mills brings the "lookie-loo" factor to the series. All people really know about her is that she's in a nasty divorce with everyone's favorite Beatle, Paul McCartney, and that she's got one leg. She and her partner Jonathan Roberts really impressed the judges and I'm sure many viewers.
Also to "Dancing's" credit is that it’s been able to continue to build its audience each season, unlike shows like "The Apprentice" and to some extent "Survivor." I'm sure watching people dance is not what most would consider entertaining but the show's interesting mix of popular celebrities are slowly bringing viewers around.
Now if Captain Jack went on "American Idol" and made some of those wannabes walk the plank, I would totally tune in!
nope only have watched idol once...computer screen to small to actually ejoy the trailer