As viewership for Teen Mom 2 continues to decline to all-time lows, MTV has reportedly taken action and fired several top-level producers.
Teen Mom 2 has seen better days. This season, ratings have taken an alarming dip, despite the addition of Ashley Jones to the cast.
Ashley joined the cast of Teen Mom 2 after Chelsea Houska announced her departure from the franchise during last season’s reunion episode.
Once bringing in over 1 million viewers per week, Teen Mom 2 saw its lowest ratings ever after the July 1 episode, which only brought in a dismal 400,000 viewers.
With such bleak ratings, MTV felt it was necessary to make some changes, and this time they targeted their production crew.
According to The Ashley’s Reality Roundup, production sources have reported that MTV fired several producers for not doing their job, which is to get the moms’ real-life, juicy stories aired on the show.
One of The Ashley’s production sources told them, “The production company recently got in a lot of trouble because the ratings of the show are so bad.”
MTV reportedly blamed producers for allowing the moms to ‘call the shots’
According to the source, MTV felt as though producers let the girls “call the shots” on filming, resulting in a “boring show.”
“The network feels that the producers have allowed the girls to call the shots on what they want to film and what they don’t, and the result is an incredibly boring and inauthentic show. Fans watch all the drama go down on social media, but most of the real stuff never makes it on the show,” The Ashley’s source said.
Earlier this season, Kail Lowry came under fire by fellow castmate Briana DeJesus for not filming during the June 8 episode. Briana’s comments caused an ongoing feud between the two, resulting in Kail suing Briana for defamation.
Although Teen Mom 2 has been renewed for another season, upper-level management at MTV feels as though major changes need to be made in order to improve viewership.
The Ashley’s source added, “The network is really hammering down on how filming is done and the level of access.”
Sources claim producers need to ‘press’ the cast to film
“The producers have been told that they are failing to get the full story from the girls, and not pushing to capture what is actually going on in the lives of the girls,” the source added.
They continued, “They feel like the producers have allowed the girls to walk all over them. If the girls don’t want something covered on the show, the producers don’t press them to film it. The network wants the girls to put their life events on the show, not just the things that make them look good.”
Things have gotten so serious, according to the source, that “There may be more producers cut if things don’t improve.”
Hopefully, MTV can turn the show around and regain Teen Mom 2 viewers. Meanwhile, fans of the show aren’t happy with the direction it’s headed amid continually falling ratings.
As one Teen Mom 2 viewer put it, “Honestly I don’t know [whose] decision it is to keep this snoozefest alive.”
Teen Mom 2 airs on Tuesdays at 8/7c on MTV.