MTV’s “The Real World” trailblazed the television scope when it premiered in May 1992.
The show quickly became a staple in the homes of many young people because of the daring context. Covering, what at the time were taboo topics like sex, prejudice, religion, abortion, illness, sexuality, AIDS, death, politics and substance abuse.
What became known as one of the longest-running programs and reality series in history ended after their thirty-second season premiered in 2016. Fortunately, fans of the reality series can rejoice because the word is out that MTV is already planning to bring it back to life, but not in its original formatting.
On Oct. 17, Facebook announced that they’re working with MTV to put the program back on their streaming service Facebook Watch. Facebook plans to work with MTV studios and Bunim/Murray Productions to place a “Real World” reboot on their service.
While there isn’t any word on how many episodes the reboot will get or if the standard theme of the show will change, more people are concerned with the platform shift.
The company is hoping that the program to working with outside content producers and partnering with MTV will expand the reach of the Facebook Watch video platform.
That notion then makes us question the success of Facebook Watch.
Who’s watching?
Facebook Watch is Facebook’s video-on-demand that was announced back in August 2017. The service features recommendations of videos to watch as well as original content.
Some of the first programs that came out of Facebook Watch were reality shows including “Ball in the Family” which showed the lives of the trendy Ball family; LaVar Ball, the patriarch of the family; LaMeolo, a point guard for the Los Angeles Ballers; LiAngelo, a shooting guard for the Los Angeles Ballers; and Lonzo Ball, a point guard for the Los Angeles Lakers.
Facebook Watch has included programming from MTV in the past when they brought on the show “Loosely Exactly Nicole” a comedy show starring Nicole Byers to their service.
I know what you might be thinking. “How is it that I never knew about this?”
Despite, my lack of extensive knowledge and experience with Facebook Watch, the ratings aren’t bad.
A few months after its launch, 40 percent of Facebook users in the United States used Watch weekly, according to this report from Morgan Stanley report found that a few months after
Most of the shows on Watch fall under the 15 or 10-minute mark, which aligns with younger viewers. The report also found that 75 percent of Watch viewers were watching content that fell under 20 minutes weekly.
So, it seems like those who are constantly engaging on Facebook are using the program regularly.
Will people watch?
The reasoning behind “The Real World” cancelation lies within audience reception. The last season of the show racked in about 0.36 million viewers, which isn’t bad for a show that has extended so many seasons and issued a revamped format.
Season 29 of the show faced criticism from longtime fans when the show made a switch from its regular that allowed us to watch these young adults in the city to challenges that the roommates had to complete.
Due to the outcry of fans who are pushing for the reboot of the show, it seems that people are ready for the show to return on whatever platform.
While it’s unclear if the influx of new viewers stick around on the Watch program, I’m pretty certain that faithful “Real World” fans will tune in to see how the show has changed or stayed the same.