The Challenge Battle of the Eras: Episode 1 + Preshow Ratings

Another season is here, but are people tuning in?

The Challenge: Battle of the Eras started with a preshow on Aug. 7 that pulled in 249,000 viewers (unconfirmed) and a 0.10 rating in the 18-49 demographic. While this is a bump from Battle for a New Champion, the preshow isn’t critical to the season’s success.

Episode 1 pulled in 426,000 viewers with a 0.19 rating in the 18-49 demographic. This is better than last season’s premiere, but not the strongest numbers we’ve seen on MTV this year. In fact, Battle for a New Champion ended with higher viewership on episode 19.

However, Variety confirmed that Battle of the Eras Episode 1 was the highest-rated Challenge premiere in three years (since Double Agents) when looking at the live + same-day audience. This encompasses all the people who watched the live airing and those who watched a recording of the show (the 426,000 audience is just live viewers). With this expanded criterion, the show was boosted to a 0.49 rating in the 18-49 demo. It also had a 4.0 share in the critical 18-49 demo, which is over double the share that Battle for a New Champion Episode 1 received.

Here are some benchmarks to compare this episode:
Battle for a New Champion Preshow:176,000 viewers (0.6 rating)
Battle for a New Champion Episode 19: 508,000 viewers (0.21 rating)
Battle for a New Champion Episode 1: 342,000 viewers (0.14 rating)
Ride or Dies Episode 1: 424,000 viewers (0.22 rating)