The Walt Disney Company says its popular reality-based competition show "Dancing with the Stars" has been renewed for two more seasons — but starting next year, viewers will have to pay if they want to follow the action.
On Friday, company officials affirmed the show will leave the ABC television network and stream exclusively on Disney+, where it will be the first live competition series to stream on the family-friendly service.
"The show’s broad appeal, as well as the overwhelming popularity of its Disney-themed competition nights, make Disney+ the perfect home for Dancing with the Stars while continuing to expand our demographic reach," Kareem Daniel, the chairman of Disney's Media and Entertainment division, said in a press release.
The move ends a 30-season run on ABC, where Dancing with the Stars debuted in 2005. News of the show's move to Disney+ was first reported Friday morning by the trade publication Deadline Hollywood, who cited a memo sent to ABC affiliates that reportedly said the change would allow ABC to begin offering some Monday Night Football games produced by ESPN. (Disney owns a controlling stake in ESPN, with Hearst Television owning a minority stake in the network.)
Starting later this year, ABC will air at least one ESPN-produced Monday Night Football game nationally, Deadline Hollywood reported. That will expand to three games aired on ABC next year, the report said. For years, the network has simulcast Monday Night Football games from ESPN in some markets when a local team is playing.
On Friday, a spokesperson for ABC confirmed Monday Night Football will air on the network in place of Dancing with the Stars, pointing to a press release issued in March that said at least three nationally-televised Monday night NFL games will air on ABC during the regular season. Additional information on what will fill the remaining weeks on Monday night was not immediately available.
Dancing with the Stars is produced for ABC and Disney by BBC Studios. In a statement on Friday, a BBC Studios spokesperson said the production company was excited to hear the show has been picked up for two additional seasons and looked forward to its distribution on Disney+.
"The fact that our iconic global format Dancing with the Stars will now set the record as the first live series on Disney+ represents a major growth opportunity and a bold next step forward in the evolution of the franchise," Valerie Bruce, the general manager of BBC Studios in Los Angeles, said in a statement. "This unprecedented move, combined with our two-season pick-up, is a testament to the proven power of Dancing with the Stars and a resounding vote of confidence from our great, supportive partners at Disney, showing how much they value and believe in the brand."
Disney+ costs $8 a month or $80 a year and offers access to a vast catalog of film and television content from Walt Disney Studios, Pixar Animation, Marvel Studios and 21st Century Fox, the latter of which Disney acquired in 2018 for more than $52 billion.
The service is also available as a bundle with two other Disney-operated streaming services, Hulu and ESPN Plus, starting at $14 a month.