‘Teen Mom OG’ Season 8B Comes to An End With Lackluster Ratings: A Look at the Long-Running Show’s Stats

“I just don’t understand why people don’t want to watch girls who are almost 30 who are on a show called ‘Teen Mom!'”

Tuesday’s episode of Teen Mom OG marked the end of the eighth season of the long-running MTV reality show and, despite the hi-jinks of Amber PortwoodMaci BookoutMackenzie McKeeCheyenne Floyd and Catelynn Lowell, the show’s ratings ended in a dud.

According to ShowBuzz Daily, the June 2 season finale of ‘Teen Mom OG’ garnered only 692,000 viewers. That episode’s ratings were the worst of the season, except for the episode that aired the week before on May 26, which brought in only 644,000 viewers.

As The Ashley previously reported, the Season 8B premiere episode (which aired on March 17) had 859,000 viewers. However, those numbers fell considerably as the season continued airing. In total, only three episodes from Season 8B had over 800,000 viewers, and by May 26, those numbers had dropped into the 600,000’s.

“Um…would it help if we got a third therapy horse?”

This is a far cry from where the ratings for ‘Teen Mom OG’ used to be. For instance, the ‘Teen Mom OG’ Season 8A premiere, which aired Monday, June 10, 2019, brought in 990,000 viewers and a demo ratings score of 0.54. In its heyday, ‘Teen Mom OG’ was a huge ratings-grabber for MTV. For example, the Season 5A premiere— which aired on May 25, 2015— had a whopping 1,538,000 viewers! 

If you go back even more, to when the show was simply called ‘Teen Mom,’ the ratings were even higher. The pilot episode of ‘Teen Mom’— which aired in December 2009— premiered with 2.1 million viewers. By the end of the first season, ratings were at 3.6 million viewers. By the Season 2 finale— which aired in October 2010— the show had an astronomical 5.6 million viewers!

The decline in ratings may be due to the show’s age. (It’s hard to believe but ‘Teen Mom’ has been on the air for over 10 years!) This season in particular may have taken a hit due to the network’s decision to keep Amber on the show, despite her 2019 domestic battery arrest and the aftermath. The Ashley broke the news in September that Viacom had chosen not to fire Amber, and it appears that some loyal viewers are still not happy about that decision. Some fans took to social media to let MTV know that they are not watching this season, due to the fact that Amber is still on the show.

“I mail-ordered myself a soulmate just so I’d have a story line this season! What more do you want me to do?!”

Over the years, ‘Teen Mom OG’ has fallen in the middle in terms of ratings for the ‘Teen Mom’ franchise shows. Teen Mom 2 has consistently performed better than ‘OG’ and is currently the top-ranked franchise show. However, even ‘Teen Mom 2’ has started to become a bit long in the tooth, with its own ratings dropping into the 700,000-800,000 range consistently.

Coming up the rear is Teen Mom: Young and Pregnant. The show’s second season only snagged about half of the ratings its bigger sisters, ‘TMOG’ and ‘TM2’ do. For instance, the episode that aired on February 18 brought in only 405,000 viewers. The episode from the previous week brought in only 438,000 viewers. 

“Oooh, I’m glad I got off that sinking ship when I did!”

While The Ashley has not heard from her production sources that ‘Teen Mom OG’ will definitely continue for a ninth season, she has been told that the show “almost certainly” will go on. (The Ashley will update this when she hears that the network has made a definite decision.) 

Below are the official ratings for ‘Teen Mom OG’ Season 8B: 

June 2, 2020 (Season Finale): 692,000

May 26, 2020: 644,000

May 19, 2020: 712,000

May 12, 2020: 769,000

May 5, 2020: 752,000

April 28, 2020: 704,000

April 21, 2020: 837,000

April 14, 2020: 723,000

April 7, 2020: 713,000

March 31, 2020: 743,000

March 24, 2020: 846,000

March 17, 2020 (Season Premiere): 859,000

To read The Ashley’s recaps of this season of ‘Teen Mom OG,’ click here!

RELATED STORY: The 7 Juiciest Quotes from ‘Teen Mom’ Maci Bookout’s New Interview About Ryan & Mackenzie Edwards

(Photos: MTV) 

68 Comments

  1. I just have 1 more comment to say after reading a lot of the comments on here, I agree thay MTV should not have kept 1 person on for firing another for the exact same thing (aka the Amber situation vs the David Eason situation) ans u guys all made some rly great points. But almost all that say they stopped watching after Amber was abusive to Andrew and u don’t want to watch a show with a domestic abuser on it. But u also admit that I stopped watching it after THAT particular incident when in reality we all saw Amber being violent with Gary (also in front of their child) but the only difference is that Gary’s incident was filmed by MTV and Andrew’s was not. So u all actually rly did still watch a domestic abuser on TV for many yrs after u knew she did that and was like that. Anf after seeing it with ur own eyes and not just reading about it.
    Jus sayin


  2. I think that the reason the 2 TM shows have had a decline in rating sis because a huge majority of their audience is around my age, which is the ages of most of the ORIGINAL cast of TM and TM , so around 28-30. Since most viewers in our age range don’t want to pay for expensive cable and most of us pay for streaming things with no commercials (Hulu, Netflix, Amazon, etc.) and that also don’t cost as much. Its not that th love isn’t there for the shows its just that the funds aren’t necessarily there like when we were teenagers living at home watching both shows when they first came out and until we moved to our own houses with our own bills.


  3. [* Shield plugin marked this comment as “Trash”. Reason: Failed Bot Test (expired) *]
    If u bring back Farrah and with teen mom 2, Jenelle then ur ratings would’ve been great! But instead h brought in some new girls to replace what can’t be replaced.


  4. Honestly, this season was boring. Y&P is good and so is TM2, but OG is played out. Personally, they need to revamp the cast, because even some of the TM2 cast is boring, spice it up with some new story lines.


  5. It’s because they keep a trainwreck like Amber and add a racist like Cheyenne that was NEVER a teen mom.


  6. Part of the issue could also be that MTV refuses to get on the streaming train. Most people I know don’t watch anymore because they’ve cut the cable and get unexpected with Hulu Live while MTV doesn’t care about viewership.


  7. Dosen’t surprise me at all that Teen Mom has low ratings. My God tg tgey are like 30 years old, None of them are teenagers and none of them have money struggles like teen Moms have. Like how am I going to buy formula…
    Not to mention 3 kids with 3 different men is sure NOT A GOOD ROLLMODAL for teenages..
    They are spoiled rich girls who are constantly REFUSING to film with this one or that one.
    MTV should have canceled them a long time ago.


  8. Yea I stopped watching once MTV didn’t fire Amber after she attempted to murder her son and boyfriend.


  9. [* Shield plugin marked this comment as “Trash”. Reason: Failed Bot Test (expired) *]
    Maci bookout is disgusting. She uses Bentley for a prop. Shes still in love with Ryan. Her husband is a douche. Amber is a deadbeat mom! Cory is way too much, uck! Balltera family need to retire. Mr. Balltera needs to come out!!!!


  10. If MTV wants to raise the ratings, they should seriously consider taking the worst of these “never was” celebrities past and present, rent a giant house in a remote location with no cell service, wifi, personal cooks, nannies, or cleaning people, abandon them for a month and record every embarrassing moment. They can call it Teen Mom: Villains Edition 💁🏽‍♀️


  11. be another year i won’t watch if they come back…go away already..enough is enough


  12. A lot of the TM kids are going to go wild when they become teenagers. MTV probably want to be there to exploit that.


    1. The Ashley, when the Teen Mom cruise ships final dock for good, do you solemnly swear to continue documenting these train wrecks’ lives for us since we are not intimately involved in their lives?


      1. [* Shield plugin marked this comment as “Trash”. Reason: Failed Bot Test (expired) *]
        So basically we will keep seeing these people thru the years (yawn) while the kids are growing up then having babies of their own and bam we get teen grand parents..nice


  13. I think that they need to take off the Teen Mom O G and tha Teen Mom because they are way past teens now !!!!!! I mean let’s don’t keep beating a dead horse !!!!!!


  14. [* Shield plugin marked this comment as “Trash”. Reason: Failed Bot Test (expired) *]
    I think that they need to take off the Teen Mom O G and tha Teen Mom because they are way past teens now !!!!!! I mean let’s don’t keep beating a dead horse !!!!!!


    1. They’re pushing 30 enough of these girls. They made enough $, bigass homes, vacations and all pumping babies out. I stopped watching last year. Now kali is having her 4th baby wth!!!


  15. [* Shield plugin marked this comment as “Trash”. Reason: Failed Bot Test (expired) *]
    What’s discouraging about this show is none of the young ladies are really doing anything productive? I still don’t understand how Amber is paid to sit on the couch every episode. She has all of these problems and her biggest concern is a boyfriend. This show is represented by four young women who has not accomplished anything in their life. It’s quite sad. I gas to stop watching it.


  16. MTV has changed since 10 years ago. It should change it’s name to Ridiculousness TV. My cable provider dropped all Viacom channels, so I dropped cable and went to YouTube TV, which doesn’t have MTV either. I was able to continue watching on my boyfriend’s U-verse account, but if I had to pay to continue to watch this and The Challenge, I’d be done. After 10 years, I hate to admit it, but I’m still invested in either hate watching Amber and Caitlyn or rooting for Maci and Bentley. I don’t care about Cheyenne, but I adore Ryder.


  17. Looking at the four of them on the couch, none have real-world jobs or even skills for real-world jobs. Leather pocketed t-shirts doesn’t count – those only sell (I guess) because of the social media exposure Maci has. Same goes for the baby daddies with the exception of Gary.


  18. I know I stopped watching mainly because of Amber and I am sure many others have as well due to her still being on the show. Beyond that, the show has just run its course. I will never understand why Cheyenne and Corey were added to the show either. While it may not be a traditional ensemble cast, they at least all had the 16 and pregnant/teen parent experience that connected them all which is why it worked. I just didn’t think it made sense to add them seemingly out of nowhere. Plus, I just find Corey extremly obnoxious and that alone makes me not want to watch. Also adding Mackenzie was another confusing and uninteresting addition that has made it easier to tune out, honestly. They must be in a solid contract for next season if they insist on continuing this garbage, hopefully it will be the last. Although I do enjoy reading all the ridiculous antics of these lunatics here and that would be the only thing I would miss.


    1. At least Mackenzie McKee was on 16&P and then TM3. Cory and Cheyenne need to take a hike no reason for them to be there at all.


  19. This show has needed to be cancelled for years now. Back when Farrah was back dooring, Jenelle was gettin high with keefah, amber beating the shit out of Gary with little Leah crying in the background. The only thing that’s changed is that they are richer and more entitled. It’s disgusting. Do any of them even have a concept what actual work is?


  20. That’s because nobody wants to watch Amber whine about how her mental illness causes her to beat the hell out of her boyfriends, and then fake cry about it. It’s annoying. The public tried to tell MTV to take her off the show, they didn’t listen, and now their ratings are trash.


  21. It’s because they sacked Jenelle who has a better story line and in need of help with an abusive husband, who you sacked due to her husband yet Amber is still on the show after the second time of domestic violence. Really and you expect people to stay loyal and tou have Maci who is a bore all you ever see if her not with her kids specially Bentley and crying over Ryan who she is still in love with. Fuck them off bored of them both now.


  22. It’s time to pull the plug on these entitled former teen Moms. Not relatable anymore with them driving around for lunch dates in Big expensive SUVs and carrying Louie Vuittons all the while complaining about their self inflicted struggles with ex’s.
    I haven’t watched one second of the show since keeping an abuser (Amber) on the gravy train.
    Teen Mom 2 is no better with hateful Kailyn screwing every guy who glances at her.
    Time to pull out MTV.


  23. When will they quit this shit? When only 10 people are left watching it? Are they going to continue until it’s Teen Mom Old Grannies? It’s done. I can’t believe they’re even getting sponsors to keep this crap going. This is ridiculous! Get jobs. Do something. Their gravy train needs to end. I do come here to read about the train wrecks and the gossip of their failed lives but I no longer watch the show. Supporting domestic violence is abhorrent! I no longer support the sponsors either.


    1. Ratings are down Bc these girls story lines never move forward! Amber dates losers & abuses them, Maci complains about Ryan & drinks beer,
      Caitlyn & Tyler collect animals and go to therapy & Cheyenne exists in the background. One thing they do keep on doing is having kids! It’s boring, it’s stale & it’s time for MTV to let go.


  24. After being hit with a $800,000 tax bill I bet Catelyn is telling MTV she needs another MTV paid mental health trip. This time to Fuji and Bora. Hiding their real lives and eating Quesadillas on TV is hard and stressful I imagine.q


  25. I am one of those who stopped watching. The catalyst was MTV’s retention of Amber, but it really is becoming both maddening and insulting to watch these self-important, largely uneducated baby incubators expound about their wisdom of how to live and prosper. They have nothing to say, sit around all day, and often neglect their money makers (a/k/a the kids). AND they are pushing 30. I think I, and a lot of former viewers, can’t wait to see them have their comeuppance when the gravy train pulls into the station.


  26. 692,000 viewers? Looks like Amber is going to have get up off the couch and get a storyline or a job. Either way her time getting paid to sit in a couch is drawing neigh. I think Mac is over the top Mansion and catelyn weekly tropical getting aways became too unreasonable and pushed viewers away.


    1. I think the decision to keep Amber on the show was a big mistake. It’s like they aren’t taking domestic violence seriously. Plus her always using her mental health is an excuse is annoying and upsetting for people who have same conditions,its like she’s mocking them. Set an example and get help,stop making excuses for your actions. You are to blame not you BPD, or Bipolar disorder. I suffer with same and don’t take a machete to the door if I’m angry or upset,yes I have broke my personal items but never got violent with another as I know it’s wrong and even if you snap you still know what your doing,and if your getting to the point where you say you don’t well get your arse in therapy. MTV should fire her,they have others for less,she doesn’t even have her kids anymore so no story full stop. She’s just a disaster.


  27. Because all of them have storylines that keep on repeating itself: Maci bitching about Ryan, Ryan bitching about Maci, Amber having a new soulmate of the week, Cate&Tyler talking about Carly and how they REALLY want a boy (I really wonder how Nova and Vaeda will feel one day when they are old enough to realize how disappointed were their parents for them not being born male), even adding Mack didn’t help because now it’s just about her cheating husband (also this season was about her mom’s death but that’s too serious of a subject to comment on it) or Cheyenne who is only here to complain about Cory even though he isn’t that bad of a father.

    None of them have a career ambition outside of Teen Mom OG, all of them want to ride on coattails of it…so next to MTV ignoring a real domestic battery case mixed with repeating storylines is what gives you this quotes. I don’t think anyone really cares about these girls anymore. I think giving this show a second chance was the worst decision they ever made.


    1. I agree. I watched OG from the beginning and felt like things wrapped up good when MTV ended the show because Amber went to gel. Maci was in school and T&C had finshed their GEDs. At that point even Farrah was still watchable and going to grad school. All of them were talking about education and careers in the real world. I enjoyed the ending and actually didn’t restart watching them, just came here for the ep reviews.

      Then MTV decided to bring them back and salaries were inflated to unbelievable numbers for them and TM2. The “live styles of the rich and famous” issues showed up. Had the salaries stayed where they were, these girls might actually have real jobs and finished real education of so sort.

      Now it’s unwatchable and they live their lives on social media where we saw more than on MTV so why would I wait 6 months to “see” MTV’s PR cleased version?

      Wake up MTV, we’re done and know The Ashley will do a better job keeping us up to date with the entire unfiltered lives of these girls.


  28. I’ve watched consistently from the beginning, but haven’t watched this season and don’t plan on watching in the future. Amber’s arrogance and abuse was a big no for me. Like another commenter stated, we put our money where our mouth is.


  29. I enjoy all the girls except Amber. She doesn’t have custody of her kids. All she does is date and see Leah from time to time. (James can’t be filmed.) So that’s not much to see. The other girls at least have issues and their kids in the middle of it.


    1. This season was horrible and boring. MTV doesn’t even try and keep any of the episodes in sequence anymore. Mack had her baby two three weeks ago and she was pregnant on the couch at Jen and Larry’s in last night’s episode. It’s like they have all just given up. Producers included.


  30. The kids are too old for their lives to be on tv. They are carrying the show. Child labor . Im very glad Jace is spared now. Bentley is being extremely exploited by his mother. It is different when they are very small.


  31. The reason this show has dropped in rating is not bc it’s been on the air for awhile it’s bc this show is complete bull shit. There is no advocacy for teen pregnancy. All these girls do is travel and leave their kids with other people. The show is not really for us hard working moms that don’t get to go to maui fly someone in from Belgium, go to Florida whenever. It’s crap. All these moms do is travel, throw parties and now pick the gender of their baby. The show is not realistic and the cast are all spoiled. None of them have jobs. It’s a joke. If MTV wants ratings and real like change the name to moms who got pregnant in their teens and now are raising them in their 30s and come film me. I will give them context drama hope advocacy and real tv. This show is a washed up joke.


    1. If anything, this show is ENCOURAGING teen pregnancy! I’m pretty sure other girls get it as well but I know especially Amber got a post on twitter from a young girl who looked up to her (that was after she beat Gary already too) and said she is a teen mom just like her now. Honestly only if young girls watched this with their parents who decided to tell them how to protect yourself from it, most of them got a glorification of it.


  32. I have watched from the beginning. I did not watch a single episode this season. It’s just extremely un relatable as they now 30, never worked a day in their life since they were 16 at the mall and are rich in their mansions. As the world is changing by the second Americans don’t have any interest in watching these privileged kids whine about shit that isn’t even relevant. In the words of sir nibs, keep it lit.


    1. “As the world is changing by the second Americans don’t have any interest in watching these privileged kids whine about shit that isn’t even relevant.”

      YES!! Although when I get too depressed after reading too much news I get a bit excited when I go to the Ashley’s site and see a recap or a report about a knucklehead from one of the TM franchises doing / saying something stupid or making another piss poor life choice. It’s a nice diversion from reality. But enough of their entitled whining. I actually think Kail is the most insufferable these days.

      I hope that after this boring dumpster fire show is cancelled that the Ashley will keep us updated with notable shannanigans.


  33. Wouldn’t it make more sense for the to keep young and pregnant on the air instead of teen mom og? Yes the ratings for og are higher but so are the inflated salaries. You know they are paying the young and pregnant girls peanuts compared to them. Viewers find them more relatable as well.


  34. Reality tv landscape has changed. When TM first came out it was fresh and new and NetFlix and,Hulu didn’t exist. Cables biggest competition was RedBox. That was a long time ago. Now those mega hits shows are tanking.Even KUWTK are bringing in less than 900,000 viewers. 90 days fiance has triple that many viewers so,we are watching reality shows just not same repeative shows that a been on for 10 yrs.
    People have more options to watch now and the networks can keep beating this dead horse until they have 0 viewers but viewers aren’t coming back.


    1. KUWTK is tanking because it’s just not real anymore. Not only do they act fake, their bodies, hair and everything about them are fake. They e had so much work done I’m surprised they can talk. That’s not reality. They make a lot of money but only with their bodies. Whores and prostitutes do that. I wonder if they would be doing what they’re doing if their father was still alive. Probably not. He’s probably rolling over in his grave. Kris whore’d her whole family out except Rob. She let him become an overweight hermit. Their lives started to suck right after she met Humphries and had a $10 million sham of a wedding. All downhill from there and really no longer relevant. Pretty much everything they launch (except for Kylie) has failed. No one wants their slant shit. They’re not business women they’re snake oil salesmen and their mom just uses them for money. She wouldn’t have a pot to piss in if it wasn’t for her kids.


  35. I don’t watch anymore because it’s lost it’s appeal. I can’t relate to girls my age making a million a year and still having baby daddy drama. My daughter and Bentley are days apart in age and it was nice to watch people I could relate to. But I work everyday, don’t have drama with my daughters dad and live modestly so I don’t get the appeal anymore. They’re all boring and seem to be horrible with money. Also the fact that none of them made anything Of themselves, they’re not even people I can look up to. The only one who will be okay after teen mom is Kail, who won’t have to work at Cracker Barrel because she actually got a degree. Hate her all you want but mark my words, she’ll be the only one still maintaining her lifestyle in 10 years.


  36. Wait. So everyone is stuck at home with nothing to do but watch TV and the ratings are *still* dropping? That seems like a pretty clear signal to me, MTV.


  37. What’s cha gonna do? WHat cha gonna do when that MTV doesn’t find you? Ha Ha be glad when it’s cancelled. Take Kailyn with you.


  38. I have watched since 16 and pregnant was first on tv. There are a number of reasons why I’m not watching, it’s just repetitive. They haven’t grown up, yes they are older but doing the same stupid mistakes is draining. I follow who I want to on IG and see what they are doing that way.


    1. They keep changing the times and dates. Matching it up on a Tuesday against “This is Us” is impossible. Putting it at 8 when it interferes with kids bed times doesn’t work either. (EST here.) Limited streaming or later airings have been minimal.


  39. Maybe if you guys didn’t have to make us PAY TO WATCH THE VIDEOS online you’d have more viewers. Also I didn’t know that mckinzies mom died in December and just now coming out with the information. Way not up to date. Not able to watch. Bullshit.


  40. I finally put my money where my mouth is this season. I REFUSE to watch this show while Amber Portwood is allowed to remain. I will not support domestic abuse.


  41. [* Shield plugin marked this comment as “Trash”. Reason: Failed Bot Test (expired) *]
    Hey rid of amber, Ryan and Mckenzie


  42. I don’t understand the low ratings for Y&P! It’s the most interesting one, since they are ACTUALLY young and struggling still. OG & 2 are snoozefests and infuriating all at the same time.
    As long as they don’t cancel Teen Mum UK I’m happy.


    1. Completely agree!
      I doubt Teen mum uk is under Viacom.
      Where go you watch it? I haven’t been able to find the last season except for the ‘best bits’ on mtvuk


  43. Please stop watching this show! These girls are rich off of exploiting their kids, they make hundreds of thousands of dollars per season. Its disgusting that this has gone on so long. They get rewarded for their bad decisons, they are so undeserving and feel entitled. There are so many better things to watch on TV. All they do is whine about their lives when they have it so easy, time for them to live in the real world.


  44. [* Shield plugin marked this comment as “Trash”. Reason: Failed Bot Test (expired) *]
    Please stop watching this show! These girls make hundreds of thousands of dollars per season to exploit their kids. Most of these people have never worked, yet they’re rich.They are so undeserving and feel entitled. They get rewarded for their bad decisions. Its disgusting that this has gone on so long. There are so many better things to watch on TV.


  45. This show should not be renewed and the gravy train needs to end. These “women” are no longer teen moms and their story lines are repetitive and boring. They should learn to live in the real world and work real jobs.


  46. Please do not renew this show!! These “women” are nearly 30 years old and this gravy train needs to end. They are no longer teen moms. It’s time for them to live in the real world and work real jobs.

Leave a Reply to Literally 🙄 Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published.

You may use these HTML tags and attributes: <a href="" title=""> <abbr title=""> <acronym title=""> <b> <blockquote cite=""> <cite> <code> <del datetime=""> <em> <i> <q cite=""> <s> <strike> <strong>

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.