Dancing with the Stars (ABC)
A 20-year-old reality competition has become Gen Z's newest obsession. Dancing With the Stars is pulling its highest ratings in years (5.88M viewers last week), breaking voting records (more than 45M votes), and achieving something it's never done before: growing its audience three consecutive weeks after premiere.
The turning point: The unlikely youth movement started when TikTok queen Charli D'Amelio won the Mirrorball Trophy in 2022, bringing millions of her Gen Z followers with her. Producers noticed the surge and went all-in on the creator playbook.
The new A-list: Now the show has fundamentally changed who counts as a "celebrity." This season's cast includes at least six social media stars, from TikToker Alix Earle to Secret Lives of Mormon Wives cast members. For Gen Z viewers, these influencers are bigger draws than traditional Hollywood names. And the show has reimagined its format to keep them engaged. Here’s what they’re doing:
- Contestants as content machines: Cast members post constantly between shows. Earle's post-episode "Un-Get Ready With Me" TikToks each rack up millions of views (one hit 3.6M). Even traditional celebrities are adapting—comedian Andy Richter had never used TikTok before joining the show.
- Week-long engagement cycles: Instead of hiding dances to build tune-in suspense, DWTS now reveals everything early, keeping fans engaged between Tuesday broadcasts.
- Second-screen experiences: The show runs TikTok Lives during episodes with backstage content (one recent stream pulled 390,000 views and 1.4M likes).
- Fan participation culture: Young viewers aren't just watching. They're posting their own attempts at the choreography, filming reaction videos, and creating dance tutorials. When pros performed one samba on the show, fans generated 44M views recreating and reacting to it.
The bigger picture: While networks panic about losing young viewers, DWTS proves legacy shows can thrive by accepting a simple truth: Gen Z will show up for traditional TV if you cast the people they actually care about and feed them content all week long, not just on Tuesday nights. With 246M social video views this season, the show's become TV's most social program by turning broadcast into just one part of a much bigger content ecosystem.
