After a Decade of Steadily Rising Popularity, the Kardashians Are Here to Stay
Sorry, Kardashian haters, but we have some bad news for you. If you just “don’t get” what’s so great about the famous family, or find yourself awake at night thinking “when will the Kardashians finally go away?!” welp, the answer is “never,” and we have the research to prove it. Kim, Khloé, Kourtney, Kendall, and Kylie burst onto the scene on Dec. 23, 2007, when Keeping Up with the Kardashians premiered on E!, and they were an overnight success. Since then, they’ve managed to parlay their reality star fame into an empire, and they won’t be slowing down anytime soon.
Interest in the Kardashians has only grown over the past 11 years.
While you might be sick of hearing about them, there are many more people that love them. Just one glance at a worldwide Google Trends chart shows that search volume regarding each member of the family has steadily increased since the KUWTK premiere, and it’s easy to see why. From product launches to new babies to risque photo shoots to relationship drama, there is literally always something to talk about when it comes to the Kardashians, and fans just can’t get enough. In the chart below, the blue line is Kim, red is Khloé, yellow is Kourt, green is Kylie, and purple is Kendall. Every single one has seen an increase in search, though Kim has had the most sustained success and Kylie has had the biggest increase since 2015.
To add to the clear interest in the family, we have their explosive growth in social media networks. Kim has gone from 13 million Instagram followers in 2014 to 111 million right now, and it has been steady growth, never any dips. Kylie went from 8 million to 106, and Khloé has gone from 8 million to 75 million. None of the family has ever seen a decrease in followers from year to year.
Each family member’s net worth has exploded.
Many people who start as reality stars will have a huge spike in their net worth when they first start their show, and then quickly run out of cash. But not the Kardashians. Over the past 11 years, every one has seen astronomical grown in their value. Kim, for example, was worth $10 million at the end of the first season of KUWTK, according to Money Nation. As of the beginning of 2018, she weas estimated to be worth $175 million! Kylie was worth an estimated $1 million in 2013 (when she was legit only 15 years old.” Well she quadrupled that value by 2014, doubled it again in 2015 so she was worth $10 mil, and now she’s multiplied that by five times… she’s worth an estimated $50 mil! See the rest of the family’s net worths, here.
Critics may hate it, but KUWTK ratings keep delivering.
It’s rare for a reality show to last for 11 years, but here we are still watching KUWTK in 2018! It was an instant success, becoming the highest-rated series aired on Sunday nights for adults 18–34 in just one month, having been watched by 1.3 million total viewers, according to Neilsen. The show has broken records with special events like Khloé and Lamar Odom’s wedding, which broguht in 3.2 million viewers, Kim’s wedding to Kris Humphries, which got 10.5 million viewers, and earned E! its most-watched day ever, and the Season 5 premiere, which had 4.7 million total viewers making it the highest-rated season premiere of the show. Still, the 2018 season brings in about 1.5 million viewers each week.
Though the critics have always hated it, fans have always been very supportive. The show or its stars have been nominated every year since 2008 for Teen Choice awards, and won at least one award in six out of ten years. Kim thinks all of the success is because of how relatable the family is, despite money and fame. “You can see that soap operas aren’t on the air as much anymore,” she told V Magazine. “I think reality shows are taking over that genre, but I think the draw to our show is that we are relatable.”
There’s a Kardashian for everyone.
Part of the ongoing success of the family is their varied interests, ages, and ability to evolve. Whether you’re a young girl interested in fashion and parties, a mom with young kids, a health nut, a woman with grown up children, an architecture fan, somebody who struggles with weight or love, or a makeup fanatic, there’s a Kardashian you can look to. While Kourtney is 49, Kylie is 20, and the next generation of KarJenner’s isn’t far off. Mason Disick is 8, so by the time Kylie is 30, he’ll be old enough to appeal to teenagers and start the cycle over again at 18. Then when he’s 30, Chicago, True, and Stormi will be in their early 20s and probably having their own kids. We’re talking about a dynasty here, folks!
Their businesses are booming.
If the Kardashians ever stop being popular in the public eye, their businesses can certainly carry them. For example, Khloé Kardashian launched Good American jeans, and it made over $1 million on the very frist day! Kylie Cosmetics earned $420 million in sales in the first 18 months and is expected to rake in $1 billion by year 2022. Meanwhile, Kim’s trio of crystal fragrances earned her $10 million in just the first day. These are just a tiny snapshot of the family’s businesses, and not only are the successful ventures wildy successful, but they’re smart enough to know when to walk away, too. For example, they announced the closing of their Dash stores in 2018 because they were no longer making enough money, and they didn’t feel the shops represented their brand well anymore. It’s that kind of eye for biz that will keep them going for the long haul.
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