There’s no denying the broad appeal, for better or worse, of reality TV. Whether for pure escapism or comic relief (i.e., laughing at other people’s drama), there’s probably at least one reality TV show out there you’ve watched.
Inscape, the TV data company with insights from a panel of more than 15 million smart TVs, analyzed the reality genre in June and found that when it came to percent share duration (i.e., time spent watching), MTV’s Ridiculousness wins hands down, accounting for 17.14% of time spent watching shows in the reality genre on linear TV (for the purposes of this analysis, food/cooking competitions and home improvement shows were left out).
Ridiculousness also aired the most episodes — 506 — while the show with the second highest episode-count had hundreds less: Cheaters aired 181 episodes and clocked in with 1.11% share duration for the reality genre in June. It probably helps that MTV often airs Ridiculousness in marathons, making it easy for viewers to consume hours at a time. It’s also worth pointing out that MTV is the network with the highest percent share duration (20.14%) for reality in June.
Related: Viewership Deep Dive: 'Top Chef: All-Stars L.A.'
Interestingly, Bravo fan-favorites are lower on the list: The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills came in at No. 12 with 1.76% share duration, Vanderpump Rules took 18th place with 1.13% share duration and The Real Housewives of New York was No. 22 (1.03%).
What else do Ridiculousness viewers like to watch? Inscape’s crossover data shows that topping the list are: Catfish: The TV Show, Jersey Shore: Family Vacation, Teen Mom OG, Teen Mom 2 and Cheaters.
On the advertising side of things, ads that aired during episodes of Ridiculousness racked up over 3.5 billion TV ad impressions in June, according to iSpot.tv, the always-on TV ad measurement and attribution company. Brands that had the highest impression-counts included Subway (82.8 million impressions), Hershey’s (76.9 million), McDonald’s (75.2 million), Wendy’s (69 million) and Popeyes (61.6 million).
The average iSpot Attention Score* for the show was 94.42, with ads airing during episodes 13% less likely to be interrupted than average.
*The iSpot Attention Score measures the propensity of consumers to interrupt an ad play on TV. The higher the score, the more complete views. Actions that interrupt an ad play include changing the channel, pulling up the guide, fast-forwarding or turning off the TV.
