CBS has brought back Love Island for season 2 despite its low ratings during the first season. The series, which was adapted from a much more popular UK version, hasn't been the same smash hit in the states, but it's still resonated enough for CBS to give reality television's umpteenth social experiment another whirl.
Love Island premiered in the US on July 9, pulling in a subpar 2.68 million viewers and 0.6 rating. Since then, the millennial-centric show hasn't enjoyed the steady climb in ratings that would usually warrant a renewal. Airing five nights a week in a four-week span with a finale on Aug. 7, CBS banked on the show's strong reputation across the pond as an indicator of how it would fare in the US market.
According to THR, CBS is satisfied with the audience Love Island has attracted and the level of social media engagement it has garnered. CBS entertainment president Kelly Kahl told THR that the network was hoping the series would draw in younger women, a demographic that isn't as represented among CBS' other shows and one that has dropped linear TV in favor of modern streaming options. Kahl said in the interview:
"The passion of Love Island's audience is incredible. The intensity of their social media engagement has created tremendous enthusiasm for the series here at the network. We love the show's creative execution and can’t wait for next season."
Social media engagement is a metric that is becoming more relevant each day as television show consumers cut the cord and digest content on a variety of streaming platforms. With new episodes of Love Island dropping so often and uploaded clips of blossoming romance and unsettling breakups occurring regularly, the audience can feel involved in the conversation without being fully invested in every single minute of the series. If there's a snippet of a scene that blows up on social media, fans can pull up the clip online and feel a part of the conversation without knowing the full storyline of the season.
Unloading a full season of a show's premiere on the general public in just over a month likely isn't the soundest strategy to rake in high ratings, even in a Netflix-obsessed world that thrives on binge-able material. It does, however, allow the Love Island brand to be a near-daily topic of social media discussion for a good chunk of the summer. The show may be lacking in originality, considering the flood of romantic elimination shows that have preceded it, but it has developed enough of a following - not on linear TV, but elsewhere - to warrant another merry-go-round of more coupling and re-coupling than the average human does in their lifetime. The question now shifts to: can it last more than a couple seasons?
New episodes of Love Island air weeknights at 8pm on CBS.
Source: THR