‘Real Housewives Of Atlanta’ Numbers Plummet, Cancellation Looming?

A drop in ratings continues to plague Season 8 of the Real Housewives of Atlanta. According to Radar Online, the reality show’s most recent episode saw a second decrease of some 700,000 viewers. What is the cause of the low ratings, and will the show be able to recover before Bravo decides to pull the plug?

The most recent drop in viewership is not the first time viewers have skipped out watching the show. In fact, during the premiere for the current season, the reality show managed to attract only 2.9 million viewers, which is a decrease of around 1 million from the first episode of Season 7.

That being said, the low ratings for the premiere turned out to only be the start of the problems for the long running series. The latest episode to turn in statistics aired on November 29 and managed to receive a 2.8 on the rating scale, which translated to around 700,000 viewers lost from the previous installment. This is in comparison to the show’s 3.5 rating that it averaged throughout all of last year.

Although the true reason for the show’s decline are likely many, OK! Magazine is attributing to the decrease in viewers to NeNe Leakes‘ departure at the end of Season 7. With the current season being the first without Leakes as a full time cast member, her absence is clearly being felt as more and more fans continue to not tune in to the reality show.

At the same time, a lot of people thought that the Real Housewives of Atlanta would be able to pick up where it left off despite Leakes no longer being a part of the drama. In fact, the series has tried its best to bring in new cast members to try and spice things up. This includes the introduction of Kim Fields to the series and the return of Sheree Whitfield, who has not been with the show since Season 4.

However, the low viewership is a clear indication that many fans are not reacting well to the direction the show has decided to take. To be fair, it is not like the show has failed to bring plenty of drama to table early on in the season. In fact, the beginning episodes of Season 8 featured a nasty feud involving Whitfield and Kenya Moore.

For her part, Leakes has yet to comment on the low ratings of her former show. This is partly due to Leakes moving on to other projects, including her work on Broadway in an upcoming rendition of Chicago. Perhaps Leakes is too busy rehearsing to address the struggles RHOA is currently going through.

At this time, the only question remaining is if the show will continue to see a decrease in ratings or if it will be able to hold its current standings. Whatever ends up happening, if the show does not manage to attract more viewers than it is very likely that Bravo will decide to end the long running franchise, especially considering the new locations that are set to launch in the coming months.

Perhaps the fact that Leakes will be making an appearance later in the season will help the show to hold on at least one more season. If the show is not cancelled soon, then fans should start to get more acquainted with the new look and feel of the show, which might turn into higher ratings.

Despite the significant drop in ratings, the Real Housewives of Atlanta still managed to be the third most viewed series on television for Sunday night.

The Real Housewives of Atlanta continues its eighth season on Sunday nights on Bravo.

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[Image via Bravo]