‘Teen Mom: The Next Chapter’ Fails to Bring Big Live Ratings; Tuesday’s Premiere Is One of the Least-Watched Episodes In Franchise History

“OK ladies, it’s time to get incarcerated, knocked up by an ex, or take a cast trip to Dr. Miami’s office. THIS IS NOT A DRILL!

The newest addition to the Teen Mom franchise premiered this week but, unfortunately, there weren’t a whole lot of people who tuned in to see it happen. 

The Ashley broke the news earlier this year that Teen Mom OG and Teen Mom 2 would be combined into a joint show starring some of the moms from each of the two shows (eight moms in total). The new series was the result of the shows’ producers, who had been brainstorming ways to save the sinking ‘Teen Mom’ franchise.

Sadly, the “Hail Mary!” attempt to keep the moms gainfully employed and gracing viewers’ TV screens with tales of custody/baby daddy/court-related drama did not get off to a great start ratings-wise during this week’s premiere.

“Please watch it so I can keep purchasing comfortable lounge furniture!” 

As history has proven, premiere episodes in the ‘Teen Mom’ franchise tend to draw the most viewers, but according to ShowBuzzDaily, Tuesday’s series premiere of ‘Teen Mom: The Next Chapter’ failed to do so, with just 203,000 live viewers tuning in to watch.

The premiere episode of ‘Next Chapter’ didn’t even crack the Top 50 Cable Telecasts for Tuesday night, which is pretty rare. Instead, the new series landed in the Number 61 spot. 

“Cheers to doing whatever the hell we have to do to keep this show on the air and keep us from having to get real jobs!” 

For comparison, the Season 11 premiere of ‘Teen Mom 2’ brought in 459,000 live viewers–- more than double the amount of viewers that watched Tuesday’s series premiere of ‘The Next Chapter.’ 

Even Teen Mom Family Reunion, which aired earlier this year, managed to perform better than the newest member of the franchise, pulling in 463,000 live viewers for its premiere episode; however, it’s worth noting that viewership for the Season 1 finale dipped to a new low of just 299,000 live viewers, making it the least-watched episode of the whole season. (Despite the relatively rotten ratings, the series was renewed earlier this year for a second season.) 

“Here’s to having a Plan B!” (Pun not intended, much like the pregnancies that launched this franchise.)

Of course, live ratings are much-less important than they were back when the original ‘Teen Mom’ premiered in 2010. With the addition of streaming services, apps and online options, viewers have more ways to watch shows than ever, and this affects the live ratings. (Here’s a good article by The Hollywood Reporter that helps to explain it.) 

Things are getting dark around here, and we’re not just talking about Cate’s urine…

On a positive pregnancy test note, the ladies of ‘The Next Chapter’ were able to attract more viewers than the most-recent episode of Teen Mom: Young and Pregnant. Tuesday’s episode, which aired immediately after ‘The Next Chapter,’ came in at Number 71, with only 170,000 live viewers. 

Rightfully so.

As of press time, neither show has been renewed for another season.

RELATED STORY: Cheyenne Floyd & Zach Davis Say They Were Shot At 13 Times While In Their Car With Their Kids; ‘Teen Mom: The Next Chapter’ Couple Says They Know The Shooter

(Photos: MTV) 

32 Comments

  1. I think ending it after this season and doing a once a year “Checking In” special would be nice. They all have social media, so its easy to keep up with them and see what the kids are up too and all their newest relationships, houses, cars and vacations, so I feel like that kind of killed the need to watch a weekly show. I think MTV needs to rebrand as an actual music station or at least find a new trashy genre to exploit. These girls have made enough $ to live comfortably and the kids are all older now. It was a good run, but time to move on already!


  2. None of these girls are relatable to any actual teen mothers. They make six figures, but a new car every year, get loads of cosmetic procedures, live in massive homes and go on vacation every month. MTV needs to scrap 30 Year Old Entitled Moms and bring back 16 and Pregnant.


  3. AND I WILL SAY IT AGAIN. STICK A FORK IN IT, THEIR DONE FOR. IF MTV KEEPS THIS. THEN THEY DESERVE TO GO DOWN AS WELL. BORING SHOW…..


  4. None of these girls are teens anymore ! Amber never gets off her couch, and wheh she does she is attacking people w machetes. It’s the same BS every season ! Pull the plug already !!


  5. MTV should do a show called, “Teen Mom, Ten years later”, and have it go back to as many of the 16 & Pregnant girls as there were episodes, and do an entire episode(or season of 5 girls) to see how their lives and the lives of their baby is now, ten years later, WITHOUT the help of the MTV money and fame. Oh, and lack of Dr. Drew’s sage advice lol.

    It would be pretty fucking interesting to compare how different it’s been with the set of girls we’ve watched the past decade, and the ones we haven’t.


    1. That would be much more interesting than the current batch entitled prima donnas. Some of the follow-up stories will be truly heartbreaking and there will be a few inspirational stories like Taylor who received her bachelor’s in nursing. Most will be somewhere in-between with more kids added, new baby daddies and some financial struggles but normal everyday stuff which is more relatable but still a cautionary tale. Compare that to the yawn-fest of going on fancy vacations, decorating new McMansions and deciding which $60k SUV to buy.


    2. This would be a good show.

      They could do an entire hour of each girl who wants to participate. That would stretch the franchise a couple seasons!

      Most of the moms have kids in Jr high now, and I bet most have thrived in life despite not getting the MTV welfare check.


  6. I mean, I’m not shocked, and I dunno why MTV hasn’t realized they’re beating a dead horse with a stick at this point. The turn over and the replacement cast has been awful. Their pettiness and immaturity is very cringe, and has gotten old. Every season it’s Briana fighting with somebody over some man, or some form of bullying happening…and 9/10 times, Briana is involved in some way. The TM3 girls + Jade is what turned me off the franchise, before the addition of them, I was sitting up watching the TM shows every week.


    1. Kayla hasn’t done a bad job of bringing the drama this season either. Y&P is essentially another 16andPregnant, I’m kinda surprised it hasn’t done better. The cast isn’t swimming in money and it doesn’t *seem* as overly produced as the TM stuff. I watch it and agree Rachel and Co. are most entertaining, but I have no interest in the other TM shows.


  7. None of these girls (especially Amber the abuser) belong an a TV show about teen moms. They do not have the same struggles as other teen moms do.

    I wish they’d have brought back some of the original girls from 16 & pregnant who haven’t done Teen Mom, or some brand new ones.


  8. I forgot about it. Had it automatically recorded. Still forgot about it so I haven’t watched it yet. It’s Friday morning 2am. lol


  9. The editing and storylines in the new show are so basic with no depth. For example, Cheyenne’s cryptic story with no police report, court case, or details to be found is so strange. They’re giving us bits and pieces that don’t tell a logical story. Reminds me of when Kail refused to speak on anything in her life except decorating. It’s like Facebook – highlight reels rather than real life.


  10. That last picture right there is your problem. What mother is going to let your kids watch that, no way on this God green Earth would I permit that for my granddaughters. Compare her to Janelle you took it out on Janelle for what her dumbass husband did. I know times has changed, that look at all the other young ladies, they don’t look like that, or act like that!!!


    1. Give it up, Edwina. We judge people for their actions, not their appearance here. If you want to know what we think of you, look at your downvotes. You’re just as bad as these teen moms…look obsessed. This world isn’t yours anymore, boomer. Boohoo. 😿


  11. young and pregnant has been able to increase in ratings this season, this week was a dud for them, but they barely underperformed next chapter, which costs more and has a better time slot (8 pm always outperforms 9 pm for mtv) so i think young and pregnant is here to stay.


    1. I remember fist seeing advertisements for 16 and pregnant and I couldn’t believe they were making a show about that. I watched it and I also watched teen mom but this is getting pathetic, they’re almost 30, they’ve added characters I don’t care about.. mtv ignores Cheyannes racist online remarks and ambers domestic abuse.. It’s time to end the show


  12. I’m not at all surprised. Basically no one asked for this but the “stars”(I use this term extremely loosely) of the show anyway.

    I will continue NOT to watch until they remove all traces of Brianna. …but that won’t happen MTV clearly doesn’t listen to their viewers.

    I would enjoy new episodes of 16 & pregnant with brand new girls each season. These girl’s stories have all played out.


  13. So half the women on each show have boring, normal lives that people don’t want to watch. People want to watch the train wrecks. Idgaf that Tyler had a vasectomy or listen to Maci talk about her PCOS, Cheyenne planning the wedding she was desperate to have, Leah moving closer to tie Liz Taylor for amount of husbands. Thank God Kail decided to get her boring life off the show.


    1. For Leah to truly emulate Liz Taylor, she will have to re-marry one of her ex-husbands at some point. My money is on Jeremy.

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