Why Did We Have to Wait So Long for All Stars 4?

The next season for The Challenge: All-Stars will debut on April 10, 2024, and all Challenge fans have the same thought: Finally.

The cast left to film the show in January 2023, meaning they’ve waited approximately 15 months to see the final product. And, like all Challenge seasons, the fandom has been well-aware that the show was in production.

While the exact rationale behind the delayed premiere is not clear, there has been a lot happening between filming and airing.

Many people speculate that ViacomCBS held onto the season because of the writers’ strike. And it’s true this impacted its content output, but mostly for scripted content (for example, CBS aired NCIS: Sydney), but reality shows weren’t impacted quite as much.

If we look at CBS’ output, Survivor was boosted to 90 minutes during the writers’ strike. We also saw new shows like Buddy Games and Big Brother: Reindeer Games. Reality shows weren’t negatively impacted by the strike — if anything, it made reality TV more valuable to networks.

If Paramount+ aired All Stars 4 in, say, August 2023, producers wouldn’t have had a hard time filming another reality/game show to include in its winter 2024 lineup. Most likely, it was delayed because production had higher hopes for The Challenge that never came to fruition.

We know the Challenge attempted to become a global franchise, but it really didn’t perform well in Australia or the UK. This did give us the World Championship, but then, those pillars of the show died.

In an ideal world, producers would have tried to film more international seasons, and likely, they would have been available in the US on Paramount+, but they realized that wasn’t going to get greenlit.

So, they staggered releases to give US viewers a constant flow of Challenge content, and this meant All Stars kept getting moved.

If the writers’ strike did anything, it allowed The Challenge: USA 2 to air on CBS. Ratings were lukewarm for USA 1, but because there was a shortage of scripted content, CBS allowed USA 2 to fill a slot during summer 2023. But, The Challenge: USA 2’s timeslot wasn’t flexible, nor was the timeslot for Battle for a New Champion. As a result, All Stars 4 kept getting moved.

Laurel and Cara Maria acknowledge that fans have been waiting for a long time at the reunion, and the good news: All Stars 4 can finally air. Challenge fans have had a constant flow of seasons and the long wait has only made hype for All Stars 4 grow.