This week, Season 39 has a preview special, and only a small number of viewers wathed it.
Only 173,000 people tuned into this introductory episode, and it received a 0.06 rating in the 18-49 demographic.
And let’s be honest, this is pretty pathetic, but the numbers aren’t overly concerning. MTV didn’t really promote this show anywhere. All of the season’s promos mentioned October 25th as the premiere date, so most people didn’t know about this pre-season episode.
However, there are two things to note about this. Firstly, it seems likely that the season will get a slow start, just like Ride or Dies. Before people tune in to MTV, they need to remember there’s a new Challenge on MTV, and that will take time. Plus, we’re likely to see a resurgence of excitement when the veterans start appearing.
The other issue, and I will never understand why this happens, but the show airs at the same time as Survivor. MTV has so much free time in their schedule. Their logic for overlapping The Challenge with a direct competitor evades me.
After watching the teaser, it didn’t seem to garner a lot of enthusiasm for the season. It was a bit awkward, with cast members standing around and introductions for people we’ve already been introduced to — and likely forgot about. There was also some type of mini-challenge, before the cast got their uniforms, and an uncomfortable game of spin the bottle.
Not a lot of drama yet, which isn’t expected at this point, but the show’s pace will need to pick up if MTV doesn’t want viewership to hit 173,000 people again.
Stop Being Polite 