Kardashians: Endgame

Keeping Up with the Kardashians stars don't need reality TV when social media is more lucrative

https://www.vox.com/culture/21429141/keeping-up-with-the-kardashians-canceled

Viewership for the E! reality show reportedly fell below 1 million earlier this year, even with an attentive audience in quarantine. Yet the Kardashian-Jenner family members ending their long-running reality show won't really matter since they have robust social media followings, with Kim Kardashian's 188 million Instagram followers, Kylie Jenner's 195 million and Kendall Jenner's 139 million. "With those kind of numbers, who needs television?" says Constance Grady. At this point, says Grady, it's "clear that the Kardashians have outgrown their reality show platform. For 13 years, Keeping up With the Kardashians has operated less as the center of the family business and more as an advertisement for the family’s many operations. And now, the Kardashian-Jenners have hit a point where they no longer need that ad." Grady adds: "The Kardashian business strategy is to leverage the family celebrity and all the attention that comes with it to sell to brands. And when Keeping up With the Kardashians launched in 2007, it was the architect of the family’s fame. It was how they sold stuff...But in 2020, Keeping Up With the Kardashians isn’t where the serious numbers are anymore."