Originally posted Tuesday, July 17, 2018 by RODNEY HO/rho@ajc.com on his AJC Radio & TV Talk blog
VH1's "Love and Hip Hop Atlanta" suffered its worst season in overnight ratings since the show began in 2012. Coincidentally or not, it's the first season without lightning rod Joseline Hernandez.
Hernandez left in a huff last year, disgusted with the way the production company was treating and portraying her. She proceeded to have her baby (in which VH1 aired a special for her last year) and leave Atlanta for Miami.
At the time, much of the cast found her over-the-top, often nasty, sometimes deceptive, sometimes violent behavior severely off putting. Many didn’t even want to shoot scenes with her.
The show’s overnight ratings were down 25 percent, averaging 2.06 million viewers, down from 2.74 million a year ago. (Counting DVR usage last year for up to a week, the show drew an additional 950,000 viewers.)
The overnights are readily available to the public but not as meaningful as they used to be with so much on-demand and DVR viewing. But those latter numbers are not so easily attainable.
I requested DVR numbers from VH1 and will include them when I get them.
Other factors could have played into the show’s fall from grace. The show is in its seventh season and very few shows that reach that point can grow audience.
The producers tried to inject fresh life with the addition of Erica Mena from "Love and Hip Hop New York." They also added Tokyo Vanity, Spice and Just Brittany. But clearly, the buzz wasn't there this year despite Tommie Lee getting suspended from the show for attacking crew. Usually, the show gets a bump from its reunion shows, which just concluded Monday night. That didn't happen this time around.
Personally, I was in the middle of adopting a child this spring and tracking “Love and Hip Hop Atlanta” fell on the wayside. In the past I had done weekly recaps.
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