Bravo ratings: ‘Real Housewives of Atlanta’ helps ‘Potomac’ series off to decent start

atl

One thing that has probably become a little bit of an under-reported story here at CarterMatt over time is the continued ratings dominance of “The Real Housewives of Atlanta” on Bravo. This is a show that at times feels like it’s just spinning its wheels and dragging out storylines until there is no longer any meat to them; however, this is also a show generating better 18-49 ratings then such shows as “The Good Wife,” “Madam Secretary,” or “CSI: Cyber” on CBS. It’s even doubled recent ratings for “Galavant” over on ABC.

Sunday night’s new episode, which was admittedly one of the better ones in a while, drew a very impressive 1.4 rating, making it the top-rated show on Bravo for the night. Maybe some of the strong rating was due to the return of NeNe Leakes, but the show was doing well even before that. Getting a familiar face like Kim Fields aboard was smart, and the same goes for continuing to play to your established base and create almost a brand around the entire franchise. These are women who many viewers relate to, even if they love some of the cast members and loathe others.

The reason we are specifically writing about these ratings today was out of curiosity over how this show would bleed into “The Real Housewives of Potomac,” a show that also has a strong African-American presence and is a perfect extension of this universe. That show premiered to a very-solid 0.9 rating, and we could see that going up if some who recorded the show liked it.

The main thing that we personally believe hurts Potomac is that it is a show that requires more of an explanation. Atlanta has an identity that is very well-known, with many viewers having close ties to the city already. Potomac is more like “Orange County” in that it is more of a specific community, and in this case one that many viewers may not know much about before watching. Other than knowing that the city exists, we didn’t have a sense of almost anything else before seeing the trailer.

If you want some other news in regards to the “Atlanta” series, head over here to see our most-recent episode review! Also, sign up right away to secure some more TV news on everything we cover, sent right over to you via our CarterMatt Newsletter. (Photo: Bravo.)

Love TV? Be sure to like Matt & Jess on Facebook for more updates!