It may feature a line-up of Hip Hop and R&B’s more recognisable faces, but it would seem ‘Love & Hip Hop Hollywood’ has a long way to go before it can even think of competing with its Southern sister ‘Love & Hip Hop Atlanta’, after failing to match or better ratings scored by the series.
Who, what, where and why?
Facts and figures after the jump.
Green lit by VH1 following the continued success of David Wolfgang-directed ‘Atlanta’, ‘Hollywood’s opening episode pulled in an audience of 2.80 million views on September 15th, beating ‘Love & Hip Hop New York’ first episode with the help of 870,000 views.
However, even with the benefit of five R&B/Hip Hop household names, ‘Hollywood’ suffered a ratings dip when its second episode on September 22nd, bringing in 2.37 million, failing to top Monday night’s Cable ratings tally.
Thus, in what may surprise any who believed its cast would guarantee blockbuster opening figures, ‘Hollywood’ presently sits beneath ‘Atlanta’ on a popularity tip when ratings for both shows are compared to each other and the ailing ‘Love & Hip Hop’, based in New York.
Sure, while ‘Atlanta’ did open with 1.92 million and go onto enjoy a substantial ratings rise mid season, one has to wonder how much growing ‘Hollywood’ can be expected to do within an audience base more interested in the lives of characters they knew nothing of in ‘Atlanta’, than former A-listers whose names should have guaranteed ‘Real Housewives of Atlanta‘-sized numbers for its parent network.
If things don’t pick up this season, here’s hoping its arguably more interesting recurring cast (see Nikki Muddaris & Morgan Hardman) are awarded more camera time for story lines that hopefully do more for the show than the likes of Lil’ Fizz, Teairra Mari and Soulja Boy are capable of doing now.