The Challenge is often referred to as the fifth major sport by some due to the athletic competition that the show’s various challenges and eliminations tend to feature.
This past week’s Spies, Lies & Allies Episode 11 dipped in the ratings and overall views a bit, as it was up against two of the other major sports on cable television.
Here’s how the latest installment of the reality competition series fared and what’s on the way for viewers with Episode 12 of the MTV show.
The Challenge faced sports competition on October 20
The Challenge Season 37, Episode 11 finished eighth overall amongst cable TV telecasts on Wednesday, October 20, 2021.
MTV’s show fell by 0.04 to a 0.33 rating amongst the 18-49 demographic, with 612,000 viewers, according to Showbuzz Daily’s stats. It had a 0.40 rating amongst the 18-49 female demographic and 0.27 amongst the 18-49 male demo.
Only Bravo’s Real Housewives of Beverly Hills finished above The Challenge as far as reality TV shows. However, it had almost a million more viewers too.
Finishing ahead of both shows were several major sports telecasts. TBS and FOX feature the baseball playoff games, while ESPN had an NBA regular season doubleheader, which drew considerably more interest than reality TV in the ratings.
By comparison, the Episode 10 ratings for MTV’s show came in at 0.37 with 666,000 viewers on October 13 and came in second overall. However, it only had an NHL game and RHOBH as competition.
MTV’s The Challenge to reach milestone episode
With MTV’s The Challenge in its 37th season, the series will present its 500th episode when Spies, Lies & Allies episode 12 arrives on Wednesday, October 27th. A recent video featured cast members sharing their favorite Challenge memories ahead of the milestone.
Based on the preview that arrived after Episode 11 (below), competitors will battle in a physical daily challenge involving tackling or running through opponents.
There will also be a helping of drama, including castmates Nelson Thomas and Kyle Christie going at it, and a blowup involving rookie Emy Alupei.
With the arrival of the episode, the competitors are moving closer to TJ Lavin’s final. The veteran alliance has mostly succeeded in eliminating rookies, although the recent twist is allowing rookies to call out vets as their opponents.
The past two episodes featured vets Ashley Mitchell and Kyle getting called out by rookies Priscilla Anyabu and Ed Eason. However, both newcomers found out that the vets hold the experience necessary to win eliminations and stay in the game.
While it will be a milestone episode, The Challenge will face tough competition from sports once again on TV. Game 2 of the World Series airs on FOX, while an NBA basketball game airs in the same time slot on ESPN.
The Challenge: Spies, Lies & Allies airs Wednesdays at 8/7c on MTV.
Episodes of The Challenge are now streaming on Paramount+. Try it FREE!
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