Fox has reduced the number of episodes of the Paradise Hotel reboot hosted by Kristin Cavallari. The news came after only four episodes of the series had aired on the network.
The dating reality show follows a group of singles staying at an exclusive resort, the Rancho de Costa in Baja Sur, Mexico.
The rebooted Paradise Hotel reality series premiered on Thursday, May 9, 2019. The original show premiered on Fox in June 2003, hosted at that time by Amanda Byram.
Fox canceled the original series in October 2003 and rebooted it in February 2008. The 2008 reboot, hosted once again by Byram, was canceled in May 2008.
Fox cuts number of episodes of Paradise Hotel 2019 reboot
Fox originally ordered a 12-episode revival of the series, which premiered on Thursday, May 9, but has now announced it is reducing the number of episodes to seven.
Following the announcement, Fox pulled the show from its Monday and Wednesday night timeslots.
Instead of airing Paradise Hotel on Monday, May 27, at 9/8c, Fox will air reruns of 9-1-1, and on Monday, June 3, the first episode of So You Think You Can Dance Season 16 will air instead of Paradise Hotel.
Similarly, on Wednesday, May 29 and June 5, in the 9/8c timeslots, Fox will feature reruns of 24 Hours to Hell and Back in place of Paradise Hotel.
However, the show will continue to air on Thursday nights at 8/7c, but only three more episodes will be shown before the season finale on June 6.
Why did Fox make the move?
Although Fox has not yet given an official explanation why they have reduced the number of the episodes, it appears the ratings for the first four episodes were likely below expectation.
The first four episodes averaged only a 0.39 rating in the 18-49 demographic, with only 1.199 million viewers (Live+SameDay).
The first episode, which aired on Thursday, May 9, had a 0.47 rating and drew only 1.406 million viewers, while the second episode, which aired on Monday, May 13, had a 0.39 rating and 1.19 million viewers.
The episode that aired last week on Thursday, May 16, had a 0.36 rating and 1.109 million viewers.
Some critics argued the reason why ratings are poor is fans are getting bored with dating reality shows that feature contestants they don’t know.
Others claim the format of Paradise Hotel, which does not include challenges where contestants compete against each other, is not appealing to viewers.
How does the show work?
Paradise Hotel starts with an uneven number of male and female singles who need to pair up to stay in the competition. The leftover leaves the show.
The contestants vote to eliminate one of the competitors and vote in a new single to the show every week. In the current series, viewers can also vote in new singles.
The last pair standing wins the cash prize of $250,000.