“I want my MTV!”
For its landmark 15th season, RuPaul’s Drag Race is moving on up to a bigger and even more popular network: MTV.
When Drag Race premiered in 2009, it aired on the LGBTQ-oriented cable network Logo TV. During season nine, the flagship series moved to a different Paramount-owned channel, VH1. This was an incredibly huge deal given that Logo TV was a niche network that wasn’t available in most “basic cable” lineups. In other words, Drag Race would reach a much wider audience by airing on VH1.
Now, Drag Race season 15 has been moved to MTV – the biggest cable network owned by Paramount.
There are a few things to unpack when it comes to Drag Race moving to MTV. For one, this means that the show has been so commercially and critically successful that Paramount wants it to air on the biggest cable network owned by the entertainment conglomerate. This is reminiscent of moving All Stars to Paramount+ when the company wanted to incentivize more people to sign up for its brand-new streaming service. The result was that All Stars 7 shattered several records and became the most-watched original series on the streaming service.
Airing on MTV also means that Drag Race will likely go up in viewership in a significant way. Generally speaking, MTV has more viewers and more popular shows than VH1, which will likely increase the production budget that is allocated to Drag Race. However, it should be noted that season 15 – with the exception of the finale and the reunion – was entirely filmed earlier in 2022, so it’s unclear whether Paramount had already decided to move the series to MTV at that point in time.
Despite some fans complaining about “Drag Race fatigue,” this franchise is proving to be more popular, more successful, and more trusted than ever by network executives and the industry as a whole. The queens of season 15 will likely benefit in a very significant way to get exposure from an even larger network – and that’s a big win for LGBTQ+ representation in mainstream media.
Start your engines, and may the best drag artist win!
RuPaul’s Drag Race season 15 premieres Friday, January 6 on MTV.
