ABC has finally clarified its Dancing with the Stars 2 finale plans, announcing that the smash hit reality ballroom dancing show will end with a special two-hour broadcast airing Sunday, February 26 at 8PM ET/PT.
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When ABC first announced that the Dancing with the Stars 2's new results show would air on Fridays, it had also stated that the show's finale would air Thursday, February 23 -- a schedule that left unclear exactly how the final performance votes of home viewers would be incorporated into the show's final scoring.
After the show premiered in January, Dancing with the Stars 2's ABC publicist told Reality TV World that the finale was tentatively scheduled to air in a half-show form on Friday, February 24, however that date was subject to change.
Once Dancing with the Stars' second season established that its initial season's ratings hadn't been a fluke, it was widely presumed that rather than air the new season's finale a Friday evening (a weekend night in which television viewership levels wane), ABC would eventually reschedule the broadcast for a more heavily watched evening. This season's Dancing with the Stars Thursday night performance shows have averaged 18.6 million viewers -- an average of four million viewers more than the show's Friday night results show broadcasts.
Interestingly, while ABC's decision to move Dancing with the Stars 2's finale to February 26 will no doubt help the broadcast's ratings, it will also be airing on an unusually competitive Sunday of television programming. In addition to Dancing with the Stars 2's finale (a decision that will result in ABC preempting its normally top-rated Desperate Housewives drama), NBC's final day of coverage of the Torino Winter Olympics will also be airing throughout the evening.