MTV’s ‘The Challenge: Total Madness’ Season 35 Premiere Scores Highest Ratings In Years In Key Demos

Denise Petski
·2 min read

Click here to read the full article.

EXCLUSIVE: MTV’s The Challenge: Total Madness‘ Season 35 premiere Wednesday saw its highest ratings in years in two key demos.

The hit athletic competition show, which pits 28 cast members against one another in a quest for a $1 million prize, drew a 1.14 rating in P18-49, its best premiere showing in eight years, and a 1.27 rating in P18-34, the highest in seven years, in Live+SD.

More from Deadline

The premiere episode at 8 PM ET saw its biggest lifts in M18-49 (+71%) and M18-34 (+69%), perhaps reflecting a void in sports programming during the COVID-19 pandemic. Total viewers were 1.06 million, up 47% from last season’s average (726k). Wednesday’s night’s episode also had a strong showing on social, trending No. 2 in the U.S. and No. 5, worldwide, to rank as the No. 1 most social reality cable series for the night, according to the network.

In The Challenge: Total Madness, veterans team up with rookie prospects from franchises including Big Brother, Amazing Race, American Ninja Warrior and Survivor.

The Challenge: Total Madness was created for MTV by Bunim/Murray Productions. Gil Goldschein, Julie Pizzi, Scott Freeman, Justin Booth and Emer Harkin serve as executive producers, and Danny Wascou and Jeff Schmidt serve as co-EPs.

Check out the teaser clip for the new season below.

Best of Deadline

Sign up for Deadline's Newsletter. For the latest news, follow us on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram.