The first season of the reality show “Naked and Afraid†on Discovery â€" which features heavily pixelated footage of contestants as they live in the wild for 21 days without aid or clothing â€" has been a good example of the need to wait before drawing any conclusions based on ratings.
The show had its premiere on June 23 immediately after “Skywire Live With Nik Wallenda,†which had 10.7 million total viewers. Some 4.2 million stuck around to watch “Naked and Afraid.†It’s a success!
But viewers apparently didn’t like what they saw. Without the benefit of “Skywire Live†as a lead-in, the second episode of “Naked and Afraid,†on June 30, lost 60 percent of the premiere audience and plummeted to 1.7 million viewers, a major drop by any measure. It’s a failure!
Then, over the next month, according to Nielsen, the show caught on as it has added viewers every week, growing from 2.2 million to 2.6 million to 3.3 million. It peaked on Sunday with the season finale at 3.6 million. That episode was also the second highest-rated cable program of that night for viewers between 18 and 49 â€" the demographic most important to advertisers â€" beating the likes of “Keeping Up With the Kardashians†on E!, “The Real Housewives of New Jersey†on Bravo and “Falling Skies†on TNT.
Discovery announced last week that casting was already under way for additional episodes of “Naked and Afraid.†A season recap episode will also be shown on Saturday.
