Fear Factor Reboot Gives MTV Highest Premiere Ratings In 2 Years

06/01/2017 10:18 am EDT

If you were excited about the prospect of Ludacris hosting a Fear Factor revival at MTV, it's clear that you weren't alone. The series premiered on Tuesday night to some high numbers for the network.

The episode was the highest-rated series premiere in two years among adults age 18-34. Up 164% vs. the average show in that time period, Fear Factor's premiere drew a 0.83 rating in the coveted demographic, drawing 936,00 total viewers in Live+Same Day.

These numbers may not seem extremely high compared to some other networks, but MTV isn't in direct competition with the original programming of AMC or FX. Based on MTV's current programming, this was certainly an achievement.

Fear Factor was one of the very first shows to launch under the new creative team at MTV, led by president Chris McCarthy. For a network is looking for more reality and live programming, this was a tremendous start.

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While the new Fear Factor definitely takes a lot of inspiration from the original series, but there's plenty to the series to help it stand on its own. In addition to bringing a new voice to the series in Ludacris, Fear Factor is now tying the challenges into pop culture, using viral videos, urban legends, and horror films to inspire the challenges.

New episodes of Fear Factor air on MTV every Tuesday night.

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[H/T] Deadline

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