Kourtney And Kim Take New York Season 2 Premiere Draws 3.2 Million Viewers

the beginning of the end for Kardashians?

Despite an avalanche of negative publicity surrounding Kim Kardashian’s hasty and ostentatious wedding, and even hastier divorce, and an anti-Kardashian petition which boasts an estimated 165,000 disgruntled signatures, last night’s season 2 premiere of Kourtney And Kim Take New York held its own in the Nielson ratings, with just under 3.2 million viewers tuning in.

Whether it was morbid curiousity, the Kardashians’ loyal hardcore fanbase, or a little bit of both, just shy of 3.2 million people felt compelled to watch Kim and Kourtney Kardashian’s New York exploits, but more importantly, to watch the beginning of the implosion of Kim’s doomed marriage to NBA star, Kris Humphries.

According to a news report from the E! Network, this season’s premiere episode of Kourtney And Kim Take New York “exceeded last season’s premiere by +6%.” E! also points out that the show does very well among females ages 18-49, which is kind of stating the obvious. We could all assume the basic demographics of Kardashians fans.

While just under 3.2 million viewers is generally considered a very respectable rating for a basic cable television show, it is actually a slight disappointment to E! if you consider some of the ratings that the Kardashian franchise has pulled in over the past few years. Kim’s Fairytale Wedding: A Kardashian Event scored E! a whopping 10.5 million viewers in total, over the two-part television special’s first run in August of 2011. Kim’s wedding provided E! with their most watch television program in the history of the network. Last season’s installment of the Kardashian flagship series, Keeping Up With the Kardashians was in the lead among cable network shows, taking in an average of 4.3 million viewers during its Sunday night slot.

I would guess that, pre-divorce fiasco, E! was anticipating at least 4 million viewers to tune into Kourtney & Kim Take New York. If Kourtney & Kim Take New York continues to hold firm at over 3 million viewers per episode we would consider the second season a solid hit for E!. However, if the show tops off at just under 3.2 million in the cable network Nielson ratings and takes a downward slide as the series progresses over the next two months, it could spell trouble for the Kardashian television empire.