Alarming numbers from several research firms indicate that the interest in the Kardashian clan could continuously decrease. Figures from Nielsen and Q Scores Company revealed that the popularity of the family, who is featured on the reality show "Keeping Up With the Kardashians," has been waning since its season peak.
According to the numbers, the show only garnered 2.4 million viewers on average last season, which was considerably lower than the average number of Season 8 at 3.9 million. Yahoo! News credited Kim Kardashian's romance with American rapper Kanye West as a major factor to the show's survival. The news outlet also pointed out that the popularity of the family, especially the elder sister, had mellowed beginning 2011. Moreover, Q Scores, which provides a statistical analysis of consumers' interest in celebrities, said the family obtained negative scores in a survey that involves an updated list of some 1,200 celebrities.
Even stars like Jack Gleeson of "Game of Thrones" has voiced out his distaste in celebrity culture, of which is evidently being cashed in by the Kardashians through a multitude of endorsements, real estate, and fashion lines.
Referring to the bad effects of people getting influenced by shallow celebrities, Enstarz said the actor told an audience during a speech at Oxford University, "What's ironic is that you see celebrity endorsing things like, you know, musical tampons and appearing in advertisements for lavender-scented teeth whitener or something. Wielding goods whose sell-by dates [will] ironically, probably, outlast theirs. Having one's image, and effectively life, democratized, dehumanizes and sometimes objectifies it into an entertainment product."
On the other hand, the Kardashians seemed to have not cared about the social and moral implications of being celebrities. Kim Kardashian is ranked by Forbes as 66th richest in the world as of June 2013, having earned $10 million last year. Her Forbes profile also said that her family in 2012 signed a deal that would keep the family's television series on air until next year. The deal signed with Ryan Seacrest Productions is worth $30 million.
But will the deal and Kanye help the Kardashians stay afloat on the television viewers' radars? Veteran journalist Bonnie Fuller believes that they could still capture the U.S. and even worldwide audiences. Kris Jenner, the family matriarch, seemed optimistic about the future of their reality show.
She told the Post, "It's 'Keeping Up With the Kardashians': Season 24. Kylie gets married."