The Bachelor ratings have tumbled: Is #MeToo, boring Arie, or Bachelor in Paradise scandal to blame?

BuzzFeed

Arie Luyendyk Jr.'s season is down 14% in total viewers and 26% in the key 18-49 demo from last year. The Bachelor went from averaging 7.2 million viewers with Nick Viall to 6.2 million with Arie. Sunday's Women Tell All special attracted only 4.2 million viewers airing unusually on a Sunday night. So why the ratings drop? "Are we, as a nation, not in the mood to watch The Bachelor during the #MeToo era?" asks Kate Aurthur. "Or did last summer's Bachelor in Paradise disaster sour viewers on the show? Or is it possible that the veteran franchise — which first premiered in 2002, and has run for a stunning 22 seasons, plus 13 more of The Bachelorette — finally run its course? Or is Arie Luyendyk Jr. — the race car driver turned realtor, whom Bachelorette Emily Maynard ditched in 2012 — a dud?" As she points out, "The Bachelor's ratings erosion has larger repercussions for network television" since it "underscores network television's disintegration."

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