This Is How Well 'Drag Race' Is Doing on VH1

Little wonder why the network keeps greenlighting shows.

Mikelle Street

Mikelle is the former editorial director of digital for PrideMedia, guiding digital editorial and social across Out, The Advocate, Pride.com, Out Traveler, and Plus. After starting as a freelancer for Out in 2013, he joined the staff as Senior Editor working across print and digital in 2018. In early 2021 he became Out's digital director, marking a pivot to content that centered queer and trans stories and figures, exclusively. In September 2021, he was promoted to editorial director of PrideMedia. He has written cover stories on Ricky Martin, Miss Fame, Nyle DiMarco, Jeremy O. Harris, Law Roach, and Symone.

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Mikelle Street

April 29 2020 4:56 PM EST

May 26 2023 1:34 PM EST

MikelleStreet

For the next three weeks, there's a whopping three and a half hours of the RuPaul Cinematic Universe airing on VH1. It kicks off with the latest episode of RuPaul's Drag Raceseason 12, before heading into an episode of the four-part RuPaul's Secret Celebrity Drag Race, and finishing with Untucked! It comes at a moment where there's an unprecedented amount of drag on television, arguably as a direct result of the show. And now the numbers are in for how well it's doing.

According to a report from Deadline, the night that Celebrity Drag Race debuted, VH1 scored the highest-rated Friday night in over a decade. Yeah, you read that right:10 years! For those who are interested in the numbers, the Drag Race episode earned a 0.64 in the 18-49 demographic. This was the second-highest-rated episode of the season, likely coming behind the debut. Celebrity Drag Race's debut earned 0.58. These numbers contributed to the channel's highest-rated Friday night since 2007.

But people are obviously taking notice of the popularity of drag. The owners of VH1 have kicked RuPaul's Drag Race: All Starsover to Showtime for its fifth season to boost subscriptions and interest in that premium channel. Show alum Shangela, Eureka, and Bob the Drag Queen are all also fronting HBO's new series We're Here. Plus, there's Thorgy Thor, Alexis Michelle, Bebe Zahara Benet, and Jujubee are making over brides-to-be ini TLC's Dragnificent. In terms of streaming, Trixie and Katya are always adding to their projects which include a YouTube show with Netflix as well as their longrunning show UNHhhh. Plus there's Sasha Velour with her amazing Quibi series NightGowns and Monet X Change's BUILD talk show The X Change Rate.