Our friends over at MTV sent us some news about the upcoming production of Season 21 of The Real World in Brooklyn, New York. Here’s the details.
Santa Monica, CA, May 13, 2008 – Riding high on the successful launch of an accelerated, action-packed 13-week episode cycle with more favorite Real World drama packed into 1-hour episodes, MTV has greenlit the hit reality series for a 21st season. Production will move from the west coast to the east coast as Bunim-Murray Productions begins shooting in Brooklyn, NY this summer. Continuing with the new format of expanding the episodes to one-hour, the network has ordered 12 episodes of “The Real World: Brooklyn” which is scheduled to premiere in Q1 2009. “The Real World: Hollywood” captivates viewers on-air as MTV is the #1 network in the Wednesday 10-11pm time period among P12-34 and online as more than 3 million fans have accessed The Real World Dailies (www.realworlddailies.com) for never-before-seen production moments.
“In its 20th season, this pioneer of reality TV is stronger than ever in its new one-hour format. Viewers are connecting with the cast and drama of ‘The Real World: Hollywood’ in a big way, and expanding a half-hour per episode gives them more of what they want – making this must see TV each week,” Tony Disanto, Executive Vice President, Series Development and Programming. “We’re thrilled to also announce the greenlight of season 21, taking the show back to where it all began – New York City.”
“The Brooklyn season, like the Hollywood season, will focus on what people loved about ‘The Real World’ when it launched in 1992 – genuine people, meaningful conflict and powerful stories,” Jon Murray, “The Real World” Co-Creator and Chairman & President of Bunim-Murray Productions. “We’re thrilled that MTV is allowing ‘The Real World’ turn 21!”
The current season of “The Real World: Hollywood” brings seven strangers together to pursue their individual “Hollywood dream” as they deal with conflict amongst each other and within themselves in the first eco-friendly house. For the first four weeks, the 20th season has posted a 2.5 P12-34 rating, a 14% increase from the prior season-to-date. The series has seen significant growth among F18-24 with a 6.1 rating, which is a 39% increase over last year. “The Real World: Hollywood’s” strong performance has driven MTV to the top spot as the #1 network in the time period (Wednesday, 10-11pm) among P12-34 across all of television, even besting broadcast. Season-to-date, the popular reality series has reached 44 million total viewers (P2+) and 23 million from our P12-34 core.
The landmark 20th season breaks new ground with a dynamic form of storytelling that slowly reveals the comedic and dramatic moments in real time, on a daily basis, via a new dedicated site – www.realworlddailies.com. Since the launch of The Real World Dailies in mid-April, the site has received more than 3 million page views as fans are able to see what the editors see everyday while in production. Nearly 400,000 cumulative daily unique visitors have logged on to watch uncensored footage from “The Real World: Hollywood” production and to read blogs written by executive producer Jim Johnston, which give insight into what the creative team was thinking while shooting the new season.
At RealWorld.mtv.com, “The Real World: Hollywood” show area continues to be one of the more popular show sites on MTV.com. Access to full episodes ranked #1 on Thursday, May 8, and saw a +13% increase week-to-week to reach a season high for the content area. Also on May 8, the web exclusives area posted an increase of +18% over the previous week. In the first four weeks, usage to “The Real World: Hollywood” show area was up 70% compared to the previous season’s weekly average.
“The Real World” launched the modern reality television genre and is the longest-running reality series in history. Past seasons have taken place in New York, Los Angeles, San Francisco, London, Miami, Boston, Seattle, Hawaii, New Orleans, Chicago, Las Vegas, Paris, San Diego, Philadelphia, Austin, Key West, Denver and Sydney. The first season, set in New York City, debuted in 1992. Each season, the show brings seven young strangers to live together in a new city and rolls the cameras 24-7, witnessing as their lives intersect, their ideas are challenged and their passions emerge.
“The Real World” was created for MTV by Jon Murray and Mary-Ellis Bunim of Bunim-Murray Productions. Jon Murray and Jim Johnston serve as Executive Producers of “The Real World: Brooklyn.” Jacquelyn French is the MTV executive overseeing the project.