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(CNN Business) A version of this article first appeared in the “Trusted Sources” newsletter. You can register for free here.
Thursday night was the end of “Keeping Up With the Kardashians” on E! and the end of an era of reality TV. The show “reinvented pop culture and changed the definition of celebrity,” wrote Variety’s Elizabeth Wagmeister. I loved the start of its story:
“When ‘Keeping Up With the Kardashians’ premiered in 2007, the production didn’t have the budget for styling and makeup. Fast forward through 20 seasons and nine spinoffs that spanned 18 additional seasons and 440 episodes in total, it can be said that the The Kardashian-Jenners have no problem asking for glam and whatever they want in their contracts. “
True. They signed an expensive new streaming deal. The transfer of the family from cable to streaming is emblematic of the industry’s gravitational shift. So is the disappointing nature of Thursday’s final. The show ended “not with a bang but a moan,” Jordan Julian wrote for The Daily Beast. Maybe it’s because “the show is so tangential to their fame now, which largely exists on social media and in their entrepreneurial ventures, that it has nothing new to say. This is not for years. “
The “reality”, so to speak, is that ratings for “KUWTK” peaked ten years ago. The show has indeed moved online. “Currently, each of the ‘KarJenner’ sisters has amassed over 100 million followers on Instagram alone providing fans with continuous, up-to-the-minute updates, compared to the much longer process of waiting week after week for that to happen. new episodes to air on E! ”wrote Yahoo’s Alexandra Channel.
“We can give them all the information anyone would want to know in real time,” Kris Jenner told “ET”. Then again, all other aspiring-Kardashians can too …
Now they follow the money
As Mandalit Del Barco wrote for NPR, “This isn’t the last time the Kardashian-Jenner family has embarked on new lucrative ventures. Disney says they have a multi-year deal to produce” new global content. “which will air on the Hulu and Disney Star platforms later this year.” More details to come.
But first, E! has another way to collect eyeballs. A two-part reunion special, hosted by Andy Cohen, will air on June 17 and 20 …
Three good reads
– “For reality stars, reaching this level of fame is unheard of,” wrote Christopher Rosa of Glamor …
– The Ringer’s Alyssa Bereznak wrote of the Kardashian-Jenner industrial complex: “The family has spread their tentacles so much that the reality show their founding text almost feels like an afterthought …”
– Here’s how Deadline’s Bruce Haring recapped the E! farewell to “the first family of entertainment:” “None of this will change the world, but it was something we had to see, as anyone passing a car accident knows well …”
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