Season 15 of The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills premiered last week, but did anyone actually watch it? The series has long been hailed as the most-watched of the Housewives franchise, but the live ratings for the premiere episode have been revealed, and it shows a surprising downturn in viewership. What the heck happened?
Real Housewives of Beverly Hills Season 15 premiere earned an all-time series low viewership ratings
RHOBH Season 15 kicked off on Thursday, December 4, showing the cast’s reaction to Garcelle Beauvais quitting the show and unfollowing them all on Instagram. Plus, Kyle Richards talked about her ongoing marital issues, and Rachel Zoe made her highly anticipated return to Bravo. Unfortunately, people weren’t necessarily racing to their TVs to watch any of that.
The premiere episode only attracted 600,000 live viewers, representing less than 10% of Bravo’s core 18-49 demographic, according to the ratings tracker account, @RatingsBravo. This marked the lowest viewership in RHOBH history.
Of course, network execs aren’t entirely focused on live ratings like these. Although it’s an important factor, we’re not in 2002 anymore. They use streaming data from Peacock and other on-demand sources to determine the success of a show. Still, fans had big reactions to these numbers.
On social media, RHOBH fans shared their theories about what caused the dip in live ratings. A big chunk of fans felt it had everything to do with Garcelle’s departure. Did she take the audience with her?
“People started watching because of Garcelle and left when she left,” remarked one fan.
Other fans reacting to the ratings felt like the issue was less about Garcelle and more about the overall dynamic of RHOBH. Some called out the “clique” mentality and a lack of genuine storyline.
One fan wrote, “Not surprised. This show feels like watching a group of women who clock in for work and then clock out once the filming is done. They’re not friends in real life. There’s no real chemistry.”
Regardless of who you want to blame for the ratings, it’s worth pointing out that RHOBH wasn’t the only show to hit a record low. Vanderpump Rules Season 12 premiered in the same week, and they had fewer than 300,000 live viewers. Perhaps there’s a pattern here.
The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills airs on Bravo every Thursday at 8/7c. You can stream it the next day on Peacock.
TELL US – WHAT WERE YOUR THOUGHTS ON THE RHOBH SEASON 15 PREMIERE? WHY DO YOU THINK THE RATINGS DROPPED?
