She/Her/Queen
This fucking ESSAY. She’s our WRITER GIRL.
Real Housewives - General Discussion
- Thread starter stopthestatic
- Start date
I loved the info you added on RHONJ! I didn't know they were the first ratings juggernaut for Bravo.
C'mon thesis! I agree with everything you've said, this is a great overview.
Chronologically, it was New Jersey that was the first Housewives "rating juggernaut" for Bravo, and easily the most popular early franchise (purely in terms of ratings), although certain Housewives from OC, NY and Atlanta would have you believe otherwise.
However, Atlanta quickly eclipsed NJ and by season 5 was easily the highest-rated franchise, pulling in well over 4 million live viewers by season 6 - which was never bested. From then on Atlanta remained the highest-rated, although it lost around 20% of its live viewership on average between seasons each subsequent year. It's now rating lower than the once #2 franchise - Beverly Hills - did this year, but BH may slip under Atlanta again by the time season 11 starts airing.
It's important to note though that the live ratings (which are all we have to go off in these threads/the fandom in general) naturally do not include DVR/streaming figures, so while the Housewives brand has inevitably lost some popularity since its 2012-14 peak, it is still very much a phenomenon - and possibly even more so globally, thanks to the likes of Hayu, etc.
Looking to the future, there is talk that some cities will be axed in the next 2 years as live figures continue to dwindle. If NBC Universal play it right regarding streaming services, I can see the brand bringing in a lot of revenue for the next 5 years or so.
There's also the inevitable All Stars iteration, which I feel will certainly happen and will more than likely be a streaming exclusive. I don't think it will be what Bravo stans fantasise it will be though, as many of the big-name Housewives (Nene, Vicki, Bethenny, LVP etc) have left on bad terms. It also, to me, doesn't make a lot of business sense to have talent that isn't featured elsewhere on Bravo/NBC star in a spin-off because they can't cross-promote (and a lot of that talent has "aged out" of what the network sees as bankable.) In short, who knows what the future holds!
Thank you for taking the time to read my whitepaper.
C'mon thesis! I agree with everything you've said, this is a great overview.
Chronologically, it was New Jersey that was the first Housewives "rating juggernaut" for Bravo, and easily the most popular early franchise (purely in terms of ratings), although certain Housewives from OC, NY and Atlanta would have you believe otherwise.
However, Atlanta quickly eclipsed NJ and by season 5 was easily the highest-rated franchise, pulling in well over 4 million live viewers by season 6 - which was never bested. From then on Atlanta remained the highest-rated, although it lost around 20% of its live viewership on average between seasons each subsequent year. It's now rating lower than the once #2 franchise - Beverly Hills - did this year, but BH may slip under Atlanta again by the time season 11 starts airing.
It's important to note though that the live ratings (which are all we have to go off in these threads/the fandom in general) naturally do not include DVR/streaming figures, so while the Housewives brand has inevitably lost some popularity since its 2012-14 peak, it is still very much a phenomenon - and possibly even more so globally, thanks to the likes of Hayu, etc.
Looking to the future, there is talk that some cities will be axed in the next 2 years as live figures continue to dwindle. If NBC Universal play it right regarding streaming services, I can see the brand bringing in a lot of revenue for the next 5 years or so.
There's also the inevitable All Stars iteration, which I feel will certainly happen and will more than likely be a streaming exclusive. I don't think it will be what Bravo stans fantasise it will be though, as many of the big-name Housewives (Nene, Vicki, Bethenny, LVP etc) have left on bad terms. It also, to me, doesn't make a lot of business sense to have talent that isn't featured elsewhere on Bravo/NBC star in a spin-off because they can't cross-promote (and a lot of that talent has "aged out" of what the network sees as bankable.) In short, who knows what the future holds!
Thank you for taking the time to read my whitepaper.
This is also fucking fascinating, I live for shit like Atlanta having the highest ever live viewers with Season 6.
It's going to be interesting to see how the franchise continues to evolve: watching SLC live has been a totally different beast with all of the real time tea coming out and I can't help but wish I'd been there for the peak of RHONY which is still the gold standard for me.
On a separate note, what do y'all think about D.C. and Miami? It's crazy how there have only been two out of ten (?!?) installments cancelled so far.
Well D.C. created a lot of problems with Bravo thanks to the White House crashing scandal. I'm not entirely sure what the exact reason for it being cancelled was (legalities I'm sure), but it was effectively replaced with Potomac 5 years later. I thought the season was boring but the one reunion they had was fantastic.
Miami's ratings were the reason they were axed after season 3 (the ratings continued to decline over the season, even for the reunion), but had streaming been a thing in 2013 I'm sure they would have been kept around, similar to how - despite piss poor live ratings in comparison to other cities - Dallas seems to redeem itself with DVR/streaming numbers. Tbh, I never really saw it for Miami. Season 2 was fun but never had the highs of any of its contemporaries. As I posted on the previous page, there's talk of it being rebooted for Peacock this year, but who knows.
Michaele and Tareq walked so the MAGAs could run.
Ddd I was gonna say that but wanted to keep things light and bright. But does anyone know of Michaele's whereabouts yesterday?
She was reported missing by her *now* ex-husband but had actually run away to marry a rock star! She's a bit legendaric and would have been a great reality television star.Ddd I was gonna say that but wanted to keep things light and bright. But does anyone know of Michaele's whereabouts yesterday?
Also, Miami regularly brought in over a million live viewers when it was cancelled. That is about average for our current highest-rated franchises, at least in terms of the live ratings.
I think @Roey_says and I were jokingly implying that perhaps she was one of the MAGAts that had stormed the Capitol yesterday after paving the way by crashing the White House, but yes - she would have been fascinating to follow, especially after she shacked up with the lead singer of Journey - Don't Stop Believing indeed!
And true regarding Miami, but remember, 1m viewers or less in 2013 was way less than half of what Jersey, Atlanta, OC and BH were bringing in (but not NY, sawry!) and they couldn't make up the viewers on non-linear platforms yet.
Now let's have the real talk:
How much are we charging the girls here for giving them doctoral degrees in Housewives??
NOT PAULINA RUBIO
he/him
I started watching Housewives almost a year ago at the beginning of the pandemic and it's been the most excellent distraction/obsession and, at times, has really helped save my mental health (although those days seem to be over cause I'm at an all-time low right now with my anxiety but that's for another thread ddd). Started with New Jersey, then New York, then Potomac, then Beverly Hills, and now I'm close to being done Atlanta. It's been such a ride and I'm a bit saddened that Atlanta is probably the last of the US shows I'll watch unless Miami ends up coming back. A bit interested in the OC seasons with Heather Dubrow, but I'm not sure if that show is worth watching? Hate to say it but I also find SLC to be a bit of a disappointment, so far.
I'm also disappointed that I took this long to get into it, since the 'heyday' of Housewives seems to be over, as literally all of the US shows are extremely stale right now with the exception of Potomac. I've heard this season of Atlanta hasn't been the most exciting, and NY season 12 was their worst season for me (although I know others disagree with this), and none of the upcoming seasons look particularly good, except maybe NJ. Especially with Covid shutting down filming constantly, I don't think we're in for greatness in 2021.
I really hope Bravo manages to turn these shows around and freshens them up a bit in 2022 - most of them are in desperate need of full overhauls/retools.
I'm also disappointed that I took this long to get into it, since the 'heyday' of Housewives seems to be over, as literally all of the US shows are extremely stale right now with the exception of Potomac. I've heard this season of Atlanta hasn't been the most exciting, and NY season 12 was their worst season for me (although I know others disagree with this), and none of the upcoming seasons look particularly good, except maybe NJ. Especially with Covid shutting down filming constantly, I don't think we're in for greatness in 2021.
I really hope Bravo manages to turn these shows around and freshens them up a bit in 2022 - most of them are in desperate need of full overhauls/retools.
DC was good and only canceled due to the legal reasons. They did try to make a second season happen but the girls wouldn’t return with Michaele. They also tried to get Cat to join RHONY which almost happened, I believe her begging pregnant and moving to Spain is what put an end to that.
Just finished Vancouver and I think it’s the best of the international series - well, second to Melbourne. Iconic with moments including Ronnie’s theatrical delivery and car crash behaviour (being “drugged” by Robin and the lesbian hook-up with Mary Zilba - I screamed!), Jodie being the absolute devil incarnate, and Mary being one of the most gracious Housewives of all time.
The ganging up on Mary in the second season was tough to watch - particularly the Alice in Wonderland tea party and Jody’s dinner on the night of Mary’s party - but she handles it well.
The first season was great too and I was genuinely quite sad not to see Christina back for Season 2 - especially when Amanda was such a waste of a Housewife. Although the messiness of Christina and Kevin was essentially channelled into Ioulia (and her strange relationship with her adult stepsons...)
With Toronto being so disappointing, Vancouver certainly showed the Canadian Housewives were capable of bringing it. Like Sydney, Vancouver deserved a much longer run. I can’t believe we didn’t even get a S2 reunion.
Stream Mary Zilba’s Hero for eternal happiness.
The ganging up on Mary in the second season was tough to watch - particularly the Alice in Wonderland tea party and Jody’s dinner on the night of Mary’s party - but she handles it well.
The first season was great too and I was genuinely quite sad not to see Christina back for Season 2 - especially when Amanda was such a waste of a Housewife. Although the messiness of Christina and Kevin was essentially channelled into Ioulia (and her strange relationship with her adult stepsons...)
With Toronto being so disappointing, Vancouver certainly showed the Canadian Housewives were capable of bringing it. Like Sydney, Vancouver deserved a much longer run. I can’t believe we didn’t even get a S2 reunion.
Stream Mary Zilba’s Hero for eternal happiness.
This being legitimately great??? With each day I feel there's more of a case for a Housewives music rate.