The Most Popular Reality TV Show In 2023 Didn’t Even Have A Real Housewife In It
Topline
Discovery Channel aired the two reality shows with the highest average weekly viewership—“Gold Rush” and “Naked and Afraid: Last One Standing”—according to data collected by Nielsen and shared with Forbes, finishing ahead of the headline-chasing stars of Bravo’s series.
Discovery Channel’s “Gold Rush,” which is on its 14th season, took the top spot for reality … [+]
Key Facts
“Gold Rush,” which aired part of its 13th and 14th seasons this year and follows the competitive gold mining efforts of miners in Alaska and the Klondike region, had an average of 1.93 million weekly viewers, earning the top spot among reality series in Nielsen’s data for the year.
“Naked and Afraid: Last One Standing”—a spinoff of “Naked and Afraid,” where male-female duos are dropped in the wild with no food, water or clothes, and must try to survive for 21 days—had an average of 1.87 million viewers each week following its premiere in May.
“Naked and Afraid: Last One Standing” put 12 all-stars from past seasons in South Africa’s Oribi Gorge, where they competed in brutal challenges to win $100,000.
Bravo’s “Vanderpump Rules” and “Below Deck” tied for the third highest average with 1.87 million weekly viewers.
A number of variations and spin-offs made it on Nielsen’s Top 20 list, including four “Real Housewives” shows—Beverly Hills, New Jersey, OC and Atlanta—and four versions of “Below Deck,” including “Below Deck Mediterranean” and “Below Deck Down Under.”
Big Number
11. That’s how many shows in the Top 20 were aired on Bravo. Discovery Channel had seven shows in the Top 20.
Tangent
“The Golden Bachelor” led the “Bachelor” franchise shows—which are classified as participation variety shows rather than reality television shows in Nielsen’s data—in viewership this year. “The Golden Bachelor,” which was the most popular Bachelor premiere of the last several seasons, averaged 5.9 million viewers each week across its nine episodes, according to the Nielsen data. “The Bachelor” was the franchise’s next best-viewed show, with an average of 3.8 million viewers weekly, followed by “The Bachelorette” with 3.2 million average weekly viewers.
Surprising Fact
TLC had two shows in Nielsen’s Top 20 reality series list: “1000-Lb. Sisters,” (No. 5) which aired its first episode of season five this month and “90 Day Fiancé,” (No. 7) which is on its 10th season and follows international couples who have 90 days to decide if they’ll get married.
List
1. “Gold Rush” (Discovery)
2. “Naked and Afraid: Last One Standing” (Discovery)
3. “Below Deck” (Bravo)
3. “Vanderpump Rules” (Bravo)
5. “100-Lb. Sisters” (TLC)
6. “Real Housewives of Beverly Hills” (Bravo)
7. “90 Day Fiancé” (TLC)
8. “Real Housewives of New Jersey” (Bravo)
9. “Below Deck Mediterranean” (Bravo)
10. “Project Runway” (Bravo)
11. “Real Housewives of OC” (Bravo)
11. “Mystery Blind Frog Ranch” (Discovery)
13. “Top Chef” (Bravo)
14. “Below Deck Sailing Yacht” (Bravo)
15. “Real Housewives Atlanta” (Bravo)
16.“Below Deck Down Under” (Bravo)
17. “Homestead Rescue” (Discovery)
18. “Gold Rush: Parker’s Trail” (Discovery)
19. “Naked and Afraid: Castaways” (Discovery)
20. “Naked and Afraid” (Discovery)
Further Reading
Related Article
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