Love and Hip Hop Sees Drop in Ratings

By: Amanda Anderson-Niles

Love and Hip Hop is back for a third season, but it’s clear that most of the drama has taken place away from the cameras. Yandy Smith’s baby daddy Mandeecees Harris was accused and later acquitted for child molestation, Rich Dollaz is having some issues involving a paternity case, while Erica Mena is fighting in nail salons and allegedly faking a pregnancy. Regardless, it’s been speculated that the show might have lost its touch, and fans of the show have been vocal in how disappointing they find the season to be. Although Mona Scott Young figured Tahiry Jose and Joe Budden’s storyline could hold a candle to Stevie J., Joseline Hernandez, and Mimi Faust; the cast hasn’t managed to strike a chord in viewers the way the cast of Love and Hip Hop Atlanta did on the very first episode. And now that the numbers are in, it’s apparent that ratings have dropped.

According to Nielsen, the season debuted pretty strongly with around 2.6 million viewers. Interestingly enough, that’s the highest ratings the season has had . The show’s viewership began to drop off week by week after the first episode, signaling that viewers lost enthusiasm for the new season just one episode into season three. Since episode three, the show has been pulling in about 1.8 million viewers per episode. That’s a huge drop from the premiere.  Even the last episode which featured a confrontation between Tahiry and Kaylin, and a fight between Mandeecees and Yandy’s cousin wasn’t enough to bump up the ratings as it only brought in a disappointing 1.88 million viewers.

Last season, the show averaged well over 2 million viewers, and sometimes over 3 million each episode. With the massive drop in numbers, we have to wonder if Mona plans on pulling a Shaunie O’Neal and making some changes to the cast for season four.