KEEPING UP

Apparently Everyone in the U.S. Watched ‘The Kardashians’

A lot more people still care about the Kardashians than we thought. Not only is their new show a hit, it is the most-watched premiere on Hulu…ever.

Hulu, you don’t have to get “your ass up and work.” The Kardashians are doing it for you. The streamer has announced their reality reboot The Kardashians has become Hulu’s biggest series premiere in U.S. history. As folks everywhere chirp, “Who even cares about that reality TV garbage?” Hulu now has the answer: Everybody.

Though the streamer did not provide specific viewing numbers, Variety reported that Hulu claims this has now become their biggest launch. They also reported that the new series has become the most-watched Star Originals (i.e., not a Marvel or Star Wars show) series across Disney+ and Star+ in global markets.

Streaming metrics can be a little wonky—Netflix, for example, goes by their own book completely—but Hulu was able to report how they got that record-breaking number. The Kardashians viewer count was based on the premiere episode hours watched in the first three days of its release, since the show launched on April 14.

And speaking of Hulu’s competition, Netflix announced that Bridgerton Season 2 swiftly became the streamer’s most-watched English-language show in its first 28 days on the streamer. Netflix, as opposed to Hulu, is rather willy-nilly at announcing viewership counts, and was unafraid to drop the official metrics: 625.49 million hours of Bridgerton Season 2 were viewed in its first full four weeks. The female gaze is dominating streaming, be it through reality or romance.

But Bridgerton differs from The Kardashians a bit in the sense that the Regency period romance series is a more widely beloved title. The Kardashians, on the other hand, is a bit more controversial of a series. Do people actually watch the business/acting/Instagram moguls (questionable title)? For fun? Or what?

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They sure do. Which is good news for Hulu, who reportedly made a massive nine-figure deal to sweep the Kardashian crew from their original series, Keeping Up with the Kardashians over at E! After 15 years of nonstop tabloid madness at the network, the family announced they were changing lanes and heading on over to Hulu instead.

As the saying goes, “The devil works hard, but Kris Jenner works harder.” And she got her ass up and worked to get viewers to this series.

Fletcher PetersEntertainment Reporter

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