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THE REAL Housewives of New York’s ratings have plummeted by nearly 1,000% from the series’ heyday as fans label the reboot as ‘unwatchable.’
The most recent episode of the Bravo reality show suffered the lowest amount of viewers the show has ever seen in its 15 years on air, The U.S. Sun can exclusively reveal.
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The sixth episode of season 15, which aired on November 5, earned just 281,000 same-day viewers, Nielsen Media Data confirmed.
That number is the lowest RHONY has ever gotten since it premiered in March 2008 – and also a big drop from the season high of 358,000 viewers the show got two weeks prior.
Most same-day ratings for episodes this season, which is the second year the RHONY reboot has aired, teetered around 350,000 each week.
That number is drastically different from the Bravo series’ heyday – which raked in millions before streaming platforms and other modern technology changed the way fans watch TV.
Viewers tuned in the most to season four – which saw then-fan-favorite Bethenny Frankel, 54, leave the show for the first time in a shocking exit.
She would eventually return for seasons 7-11 before exiting the franchise for a second and final time in 2019.
The ratings were ramped up due to screen drama with Bethenny and her season 4 cast mates; LuAnn de Lesseps, Alex McCord, Ramona Singer, Jill Zarin, Kelly Bensimon, Sonja Morgan and then-newcomer Cindy Barshop.
On average, more than two million people tuned in for same-day viewing of the Bravo juggernaut – slightly above season three’s impressive numbers.
Compared to 2024’s per-week number of 280,000, the decline is roughly 1,000% of when the show was at its peak.
Season 3 was also getting around two million a week, while seasons six through 12 averaged around 1.5 million, per Nielsen.
In 2021, the average same-day number dropped below a million for the first time, raking in around 800,000 for season 13.
After the disappointing performance, Bravo announced it was axing its beloved cast and rebooting the show with an entirely new group of ladies.
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Looking to add fresh faces to the dwindling series, Bravo tapped Sai De Silva, Ubah Hassan, Erin Lichy, Jenna Lyons, Jessel Taank and Brynn Whitfield to fill the shoes of the RHONY cast.
This year, all the women returned – with the addition of model Racquel Chevremont and designer Rebecca Minkoff.
Despite Bravo taking a big risk by rebooting an entire series, something they had not done with Housewives before, it appears the gamble didn’t pay off.
Alongside the dwindling numbers have been fans complaining about how “unbearable” the show has now become.
“New RHONY is unwatchable – I can’t care. I watched every episode of the first season and willed it to engage me. But I can’t care or relate,” one fan said.
They continued: “I’m a housewife addict and have sat through too many hours of terrible, poor seasons of OC, Potomac, New Jersey, original New York, Miami etc etc.
“But I have given up on new RHONY. I don’t care for or about any of the housewives. I can’t relate. They’re not boring people but I find them boring to watch.”
‘REBOOT NEEDS A REBOOT’
Another agreed, saying of this current season: “They’re sooo boring. I posted last week about how I was on my phone the whole time. They’re not funny, and that’s actually my problem.
“I don’t expect comedians, but most of the other franchises and season have funny antics that make me smile. This season is just.. tired.”
A third quipped that this “reboot needs a reboot ASAP.”
“It also feels so forced and very curated. It’s clear none of these woman are friends irl and have no chemistry together. They’re also clearly keeping a lot behind cameras, like their entire actual lives.
“Realistically we know nothing about most of them. Ubah, Jenna and now Rebecca are so closed off that they won’t even show their relationships/significant others on camera.
“We know absolutely nothing about Brynn’s life, and outside of the very curated family dynamics of the other ladies, we really don’t get any depth as far as their personal lives.
“If you don’t want to share anything personal about your life to the public, why sign on to do a reality TV show?”
Real Housewives Franchises
Over the last few decades, there is currently 10 versions of the Real Housewives.
Last month, a source claimed some Bravo producers have a “sense of panic” about the current ratings – which is a reflection on the state of the television industry with updated technology.
“The ratings decline has been catastrophic. Most shows have been in steady decline but there is hope that things will turn around.
“On one end, there is a sense of panic within the network but that’s the state of TV right now.
“It’s not just Bravo, viewership for any linear network is down,” an insider told The U.S. Sun – noting how all of cable television has been deeply impacted by streaming services and modern times.
“As happy as everyone is with the success of Peacock, that has hurt ratings for Bravo. Peacock really started to take off in 2022 and that’s when a decrease in network viewership and an increase in streaming viewership was really noticed by [Bravo].
“It’s difficult to navigate because it’s all the same company, so at the top it’s a win, but they also are two totally different entities. So different people feel different ways about it sucking the traffic. It’s complicated.”
NBCUniversal is the parent company of both Bravo and Peacock.
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