“What’s the life cycle of a reality TV family?

Shorter than it used to be. For the Kardashian clan, the Robertsons of Duck Dynasty and the family of beauty pageant contestant Alana Thompson (aka Honey Boo Boo), the limelight is fading. All three shows returned last month with depressed ratings that dropped sharply from their peaks — some set just last year — though each still claims a sizable audience by cable TV standards.

A&E’s Duck Dynasty premiered little more than two years ago and peaked last summer with an astounding 11.8 million viewers, setting cable records for an unscripted series. Though it remains a cable hit, its audience is now one-third of that total. E!’s Keeping Up With the Kardashians has had a longer run, opening modestly in 2007 and climbing to 4.8 million viewers in 2010 as the family gained international fame. But since then its ratings have been cut by more than half. And TLC’s Here Comes Honey Boo Boo, introduced in August 2012, now has half the audience of its early highs.”* The Young Turks hosts Cenk Uygur and Ana Kasparian break it down.

*Read more here from Gary Levin / USA Today:
http://www.usatoday.com/story/life/tv/2014/07/06/reality-tv-stars-kardashians-honey-boo-boo-duck-dynasty/12109039/