MTV made sure its scripted comedy “The Hard Times of RJ Berger” returned for season two with help from the “Jersey Shore” juggernaut. It premiered the season after Thursday’s “Shore” season finale, giving “Berger” its highest viewership to-date. Then, on Monday, its first episode in the regular timeslot featured a guest appearance from “Jersey Shore” star Vinny.
Unfortunately, there is only a hint of evidence to successfully claim “Shore” boosted mass interest in the risque MTV comedy. Save for its performance in one important demographic, “Berger” barely returned up from where it ended its first season last summer.
Monday’s episode posted a 0.6 adults 18-49 rating with 1.367 million viewers, according to Travis Yanan Watches TV. That marked only a slight increase from the 0.5 rating and 1.288 million viewers for the season one finale.
The comparative season one episode, the second of the season and the first that aired in the Monday timeslot, posted a 0.5 rating with 1.172 million viewers last summer.
Yet, as noted, there was still a bit of “Jersey Shore” impact on “RJ Berger.” Unless the data being reported is in error, the show improved dramatically in the women 18-34 demographic, moving from a 0.4 for the season one finale and 0.5 for the second season one episode to a 0.9 Monday night. Women 18-34 is one of “Jersey Shore”‘s target demographics, so it is possible the cross-promotion played a role in reaching that demo.
Still, even considering the difficulty facing cable series that air in the regular season (as opposed to the summer), one would think MTV was, ultimately, hoping for a bit more of a boost in the overall viewership numbers.