On Wednesday, U.S. television network ABC announced this season's celebrity lineup for its hit dancing contest show "Dancing With The Stars."  The 2007-08 season starts September 24 and will feature singer Wayne Newton, billionaire Mark Cuban, actress Jennie Garth and nine other luminaries who will pair up with professional dancers.

Other participants in the projected 12-celebrity lineup include boxer Floyd Mayweather, Jr., Melanie Brown ("Scary Spice" and "Mel B"), TV star Sabrina Bryan, Indy car racer Helio Castroneves, model-actress Josie Maran, daytime star Cameron Mathison, singer Marie Osmond, model Albert Reed and actress Jane Seymour ("Dr. Quinn, Medicine Woman").

Several Know More Media authors are covering this story from the angles of their respective blogs.  Many possible points of discussion exist:

- This is a prime example of a TV show that uses famous people to drive ratings (and therefore advertising revenue).

- It's an interesting story from an individual branding perspective, for one thing - many of the show's celebrities are clearly looking to boost or revive personal revenues of various kinds.

- As far as business ethics go, there is the question: To what degree it is appropriate for a business to use celebrities to endorse its products or promote its services?

We at Know More Media find it interesting that TV shows like "Dancing With The Stars" continue to attract massive audiences, even with the advent of the YouTube / microchunk publishing age.  In a sense, the episodes of current TV shows may be seen like microchunks in a very inflexible feed of sorts - inflexible enough for many erstwhile-TV viewers to switch to Internet episode or highlight streaming.  But as long as popular demand exists, so will such programs - perhaps in a variety of formats.

So ... who are you going to root for or against in this season's "Dancing With The Stars?"