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'Dancing With the Stars' winner: Are viewers tired of reality competitions?

Two new winners were recently announced on 'Dancing.' Shows like 'Dancing' and 'The Voice' are still hits, but with ratings down and 'American Idol' on the way out, is there TV competition fatigue?

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Chris Pizzello/Invision/AP
One of the judges on 'Dancing With the Stars' is Julianne Hough.

“Dancing With the Stars” has declared new winners. 

Rumer Willis, the star of such films as “Always Woodstock” and “The House Bunny” and the daughter of actors Bruce Willis and Demi Moore, came in first in the dancing competition along with her professional partner Valentin Chmerkovskiy. 

Those who participated in the final part of the competition were “Glee” actor Riker Lynch and dancer Allison Holker as well as veteran Noah Galloway and dancer Sharna Burgess. Mr. Chermovskiy won for the first time in the dancing competition with his victory with Ms. Willis.

On May 18, the first part of the season finale for ABC’s program “Dancing” faced off with the first installment of the finale of NBC’s singing competition “The Voice.” “Dancing” won the night, according to TheWrap, but ratings for “Dancing” and “Voice” were lower for both shows than their respective finales last year. "Dancing" had more than 14 million viewers for Monday's episode, while last year's had more than 15 million, according to the website Wetpaint. Earlier this year, “Dancing” had its lowest season premiere in its history for adults 18 to 49, a much-targeted demographic, according to Deadline. The premiere earned a 2.0 rating for adults 18 to 49, according to TheWrap, while, according to the Los Angeles Times, the 2014 episode had a 2.5. The season premiere of “The Voice” debuted 15 percent lower than its 2014 premiere (though the ratings were up from the previous “Voice” season finale), according to TheWrap. According to the Hollywood Reporter, ratings for a previous "Voice" episode this month were also down and were a series low for “Voice.”

These shows are, of course, still successes for each of their networks. But the news comes soon after the announcement that “American Idol,” the former reality show juggernaut, will be airing its final season beginning in 2016 after a continued ratings decline. Are people just getting tired of network reality talent competitions? Fox’s reality competition show “The X Factor” was canceled in 2014 as well and perhaps viewers are just feeling fatigued because of how often the shows are on the air. “Dancing” just concluded its twentieth season despite having debuted in 2005 because the show traditionally airs two full cycles a year, one debuting in the spring and one in the autumn. “The Voice” has followed a similar schedule.

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