After a week of record-low viewership, rumors are swirling that Bravo shows are at risk of getting cancelled. Vanderpump Rules and The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills both just hit series lows in ratings, but Andy Cohen just weighed in on the conversation. He thinks everyone needs to relax. When it comes to calculating a show’s success, there’s much more to the story than just the ratings.
Vanderpump Rules and RHOBH both recently suffered low live ratings
This online conversation about ratings started when the Vanderpump Rules Season 12 premiere failed to attract 300,000 live viewers with its premiere. Insiders claiming to be close to production said that the show was at risk of cancellation due to the poorly received reboot.
A few days later, RHOBH kicked off Season 15. The live ratings hit an all-time low for the series, sparking a fierce online debate about the current state of Bravo.
During the December 10 edition of SiriusXM’s Andy Cohen Live, we heard directly from Bravo’s top dog. He thinks fans are focused on the wrong things. He said he logged into his Twitter/X account and felt surprised by the conversations he saw.
“I start getting things from people telling me how Beverly Hills sucks and how the ratings are so bad for Vanderpump Rules,” Andy began.
“First of all, you don’t know the ratings for Vanderpump Rules,” he continued. “We don’t look at live ratings. I haven’t looked at a live rating for anything on Bravo. You know what the live ratings are? Hashmarks. It’s delayed, it’s DVR, and it’s Peacock.”
Andy insisted that it’s “not about the live ratings anymore.” And if you don’t believe him, let’s take a look at Next Gen NYC, for example.
Just like Pump Rules, their premiere had fewer than 300,000 viewers. However, it eventually became Bravo’s most-watched series premiere of all time. The network measured 5.4 million viewers across all platforms within 35 days of the premiere. The live ratings were just a small percentage of that.
With that in mind, there’s plenty of time for the new seasons of Pump Rules and RHOBH to take off, even when the live ratings make it seem like no one’s watching.
Vanderpump Rules airs Tuesdays at 9/8c on Bravo, and you can watch The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills at 8/7c on Thursdays. Of course, both are also streaming on Peacock.
TELL US – WHAT ARE YOUR THOUGHTS ON THE ONLINE CHATTER ABOUT LIVE RATINGS? DO YOU THINK ANDY IS DOWNPLAYING THEIR SIGNIFICANCE?
