Those of you who keep track of such things know that Teen Mom 2 ratings have been on the decline for years.
A slow erosion in viewership is to be expected with long-running reality shows, but the TM2 drop-off has been severe, and the most recent numbers spell big trouble for Kail and company.
According to a new report from The Ashley’s Reality Roundup, Tuesday’s Teen Mom 2 Season 11 premiere brought in just 459,000 viewers.
To put that in perspective the first episode of Season 10 drew an audience almost twice that size!
Older shows usually deliver their strongest numbers at the beginning of each new season, and viewership dwindles as fans slowly remember why they stopped watching at some earlier point in the series’ run.
This week’s Teen Mom 2 was the third lowest-rated in the history of the series, which means that there are probably more record lows to come as the season progresses.
Needless to say, MTV execs probably aren’t thrilled about this news.
For years now, rumors about Teen Mom 2 getting canceled have been making the rounds on social media.
Each new season brings new claims that the show is on its last legs.
This time, it seems almost certain that network heads are having some serious discussions about the show’s future.
If there were any hope of turning things around, then perhaps the situation wouldn’t seem quite so dire.
But the problems with TM2 run deep, and at this point, even the cast is complaining about the lack of juicy storylines.
On the Season 11 premiere, we saw Briana DeJesus react to the news that Kailyn Lowry had filed a lawsuit against her.
At one point Bri joked that Kail was motivated to file the suit so that she would have something do on camera other than choose between tile colors for her latest remodeling project.
“I’m f—ing annoyed at this point, but whatever, someone needs a storyline so I guess we’re just gonna take it as it comes,” DeJesus said.
On the show’s official Facebook page, fans have been posting similar complaints.
“I’ve been watching since day one,” one person wrote.
“It’s time to let the ‘Teen Mom’ franchise go, MTV. I understand that this franchise is the only thing keeping MTV alive other than ‘Catfish’ but this show has run its course. It’s not even entertaining at this point anymore.”
“I’m getting tired of watching rich girls popping out babies, buying new houses, new cars and going on vacation,” another person added. It’s just not like it used to be,” another person wrote.
“There’s nothing realistic about this show at all,” a third chimed in.
“Most teen moms are not rich. These girls all are getting surgeries, carrying [Louis Vuitton] purses, building houses etc.. Not at all what it would really be like for teen moms.”
The importance of the class factor can’t be overstated.
When the 16 and Pregnant/Teen Mom franchise debuted, it offered a refreshing alternative to the worlds of the Kardashians or the Real Housewives.
The show offered content for younger viewers in lower income brackets.
Even viewers who didn’t have kids could likely relate to working low-paying jobs and living paycheck-to-paycheck.
But an unavoidable consequence of the show’s success is the fact that the moms have been making a lot of money for quite a few years now.
And since they gained fame so young, some of them have never known any other life, making them especially unrelatable.
So we suppose the ladies should enjoy the lavish vacations and ambitious remodeling projects while they can.
Because it’s looking like the MTV gravy train might be coming to a stop very soon.
Source: HollyWood Gossip
