Just a few days ago, Chelsea Houska and Cole DeBoer started their new show.
Teenage Mother fans wanted to know two things: here Down Home Fab good … and people actually watch?
Obviously, people have mixed opinions about the show. Like any event.
As for viewership … well, they’re putting it Teenage Mother to be ashamed. By degrees of shame.
On Monday, January 16, Chelsea Houska and Cole DeBoer’s Down Home Fab premiered on the HGTV network.
HGTV has a lot of name recognition, but for most TV viewers, it’s pretty niche. That’s not a bad thing, but it means it’s rarely going to dominate the timeslot like the main cable channels would.
However, Monday night’s premiere reportedly drew 678,000 viewers.
The lead-in was rerun from Fixer Upper: Welcome from 2021, there are 711,000.
While we are sure that not only 33,000 viewers have changed the channel (more people are listening, while others are listening), it is not bad for a new show. Especially when we compare Fixer Upper.
What caught people’s attention, however, was how their debut numbers compared to other shows.
For years, now, we have covered Teenage Mother and declining show ratings.
No matter how much MTV tries to breathe new life into the franchise, interest in actually sitting down and watching episodes has dwindled.
It’s not just about the cast, either. The culture has changed. Sure, people are still interested in witnessing the horror of generational trauma play out on camera, but maybe the interest isn’t what it was in its heyday. Teenage Mother.
So what’s the best comparison for this new HGTV show?
Teenage Moms: Family Reunion is being aired. This season premieres on January 3rd.
Just this week, the show featured what it called the granny frenzy. For months, the powers that be have been trying to drum up interest in the show by teasing this time.
The title of the episode became “Double Mama Drama.” And, as we all know, it aired the same week as Chelsea and Cole premiered.
How many people set?
274,000. Few shows will enjoy such an audience. But for the MTV reality series, not so much.
Meanwhile, Down Home Fab raked in about 2.5 times as many viewers.
No, it’s not the hit that everyone talks about and will watch religiously every week.
But for Chelsea’s recent show ratings to humiliate the franchise that gave birth to them (so to speak) is a promising sign.
Teen Mom also experienced a drop in ratings just for this season.
Usually, the show’s ratings drop after the premiere. He can take it after the start of the season, but it’s rare.
But a 17% drop in just two weeks — which happened with Teen Mom: Family Reunion this month — isn’t good news.
There is always that chance Fab’s home town can follow.
Of course, the premiere episode has more viewers than Teenage Moms: Family Reunion. So a 17% drop for them would still make it over 562,000.
Even if Family Reunion no more going down (by some miracle), Fab’s home town will still have more than twice the audience.
Maybe fewer people will watch it Down Home Fabwhich airs on HGTV Monday nights but also airs earlier on Discovery Plus.
Some early reviews have criticized the houses as “ugly”. We suspect we’ll need more episodes before we can make a decision.
But for now, congratulations to Chelsea and Cole. The show may not have been a “hit” in the grand scheme of things, but hundreds of thousands of people did. Oh, and this doesn’t include streaming numbers!