The Real Housewives franchise is such an industry juggernaut that there’s something strange when one of its iterations flops. Such is the case for Real Housewives of Atlanta Season 15, which seems ludicrous. 14 successful seasons and now the show is flopping?
Well, successful is a relative term. Truth is, RHOA’s viewership has been on the decline for a few years. However, it was only recently that Season 15 saw the lowest viewership in years, with Episode 4 only netting 657,000 viewers.
Yes, the decline has been steady and somewhat expected. Season 12 averaged 1.8 million viewers, Season 13 had 1.25 million, and Season 14 averaged 950,000. Compare this to the days of yore. In Season 7, back in Nene Leakes’ heyday, the show pulled an average of over three million viewers.
Coming soon: Regular Housewives of Atlanta
Unfortunately for the Housewives, they are all too aware of the numbers. An insider close to the cast reported to Radar Online that “They are worried Bravo will pull a recast on them as they did to the cast of Real Housewives of New York. None of them feel safe, even Kandi.”
As many know, RHONY was rebooted with a new cast of younger and more diverse housewives. This hard reset came in the face of declining ratings. While the original RHONY cast was shuffled around and retained jobs in the reality TV space, they made significantly less than they did on their main franchise, and that must be, in part, what the Housewives of Atlanta are worried about.
Ultimately, fans have just found the show boring recently. None of the current cast members engage them presently. Many have called for Andy Cohen to let Nene and Porsha Williams return. But given his complicated dynamic with Nene, that seems unlikely. For now, RHOA might have to flounder before it can swim again, one way or another.
Real Housewives of Atlanta continues Sundays at 8/7c on Bravo.
TELL US – DO YOU THINK BRAVO WILL RECAST? DO YOU THINK THAT WOULD BE THE BEST THING FOR THE SHOW?
