Season 2 of Dancing With the Stars to Include Weekly 20 Minute Results Show  7/28/05

SEASON 2 OF "DANCING WITH THE STARS" TO INCLUDE A WEEKLY 30-MINUTE RESULTS SHOW

Audience and Judges Will Be Voting on the Same Dances... Including the Finale!

When "Dancing with the Stars" returns to the ABC lineup this midseason, there will be more dancing, more dazzle and more episodes - specifically "results" episodes -- it was announced today by Stephen McPherson, president, ABC Entertainment. These episodes will allow the audience's vote to be combined with the judges' scores so that everyone is voting on the same dances. This means that the dramatic eliminations will now come at the end of the results show.

Here's how it works: as with the premiere season, each one-hour episode will feature the dancing pairs competing with two different dances (Cha Cha Cha, Rumba, Tango, Jive, etc.) The judges will give their scores... and their comments! Overnight, viewers will be able to vote via phone lines and on ABC.com. Then, sometime before the next week's full episode (time and airdate yet to be determined), the 30-minute results show will reveal which couple received the lowest combined score and is eliminated from the competition. This will include the finale. The couple that takes home the magnificent "Dancing with the Stars" trophy will be announced in the most highly anticipated results show of the season!

"We are so grateful for the fans' passion for the show," said McPherson. "We heard their frustrations loud and clear about the voting process, so we're adding the results show, letting them have the fullest possible participation."

Richard Hopkins, BBC Head of Format Entertainment, added: "We will be making 2006 a ballroom blitz when Season 2 takes to the floor -- its going to be wall-to-wall glitz, bling and rhinestones, and now that the viewers can vote immediately to agree or disagree with the judges, the results shows will be unmissable events!"

A premiere date has not been set yet for the second season of "Dancing with the Stars." During its premiere season, "Dancing with the Stars" emerged as the biggest summer hit of 2005. The broad-appealing unscripted series ranked No. 1 in its Wednesday 9 o'clock time period among Total Viewers, across each of the key adult demos (Adults 18-34, Adults 18-49 and Adults 25-54), as well as among Teens 12-17 and Kids 2-11. On average it towered over its closest competition in its hour (NBC) by 9.2 million viewers (16.8 million vs. 7.6 million) and by 143% in Adults 18-49 (5.1/15 vs. 2.1/6), and ranked as the No. 1 TV show on Wednesday night among viewers and young adults on all 6six of its telecasts.

The No. 1 TV series this summer, "Dancing with the Stars" also qualified as the most-watched summer series on any network in the last five years - since the inaugural season of "Survivor" in Summer 2000.