Let us guess: Your Facebook feed is blowing up with upset bartenders and gay bar owners lamenting the fact that RuPaul’s Drag Race has abruptly moved to Friday nights on VH1.
Related: In Shocking Twist, RuPaul Is Eliminated From “Drag Race”
In an exclusive report published earlier today, Entertainment Weekly broke the news that the Emmy-winning reality show’s ninth season will premiere Friday, March 24th at 8pm.
Encore presentations will be shown on Logo, which has left some fans wondering whether the gay network will sashay away following the departure of its flagship series.
Y is @RuPaulsDragRace on Friday nights? What gay bar is going to shut down for an hour to stream the show on a Fri? @RuPaul @michellevisage
— Steven Felix (@steven_btw) March 1, 2017
Pamela Post, LOGO’s SVP of original programming and development, told VH1:
“Coming off RuPaul’s Emmy win and a ratings record-breaking season of All Stars, the fandom around RuPaul’s Drag Race has only continued to swell as we head into season nine.
Broadcasting the show on VH1 will allow more fans to experience the energy, heart, and talent these fierce queens bring to the stage every week.”
Related: RuPaul is the ghost of Christmas past in her impossibly ’90s holiday special
It’s admittedly a rather odd choice to move the show to 8pm on Friday nights, when most of the show’s key demographic will presumably have better things to do than sit in front of the TV.
Fridays? vh1? RUPAUL? What is UP https://t.co/YJbN1W2Nn4
— Me, Stacy (@SilverStGroud) March 1, 2017
Starting Sunday, March 19th, Logo will be airing a nonstop marathon of previous episodes “in anticipation of the ninth season.”
Of course RuPaul's Drag Race is moving to VH1. Straight people gentrify everything queer people and POC create. #rupaulsdragrace
— Sammy Taylor (@samuel_hudson) March 1, 2017
An unscientific survey suggests thousands of fans (and bar managers) are reacting to the shakeup with decidedly mixed emotions:
LucasH
I’m a bit skeptical as well. I mean the good thing is that I can get VH1 in HD!!! but the bad thing is, I liked my Drag Race Monday nights. Will they be showing Untucked, too?
DCguy
IT seems like more bars etc…will have an easy time getting people to come in, 8pm isn’t prime bar hours, but they can get people in early by playing the show, but the show will be over by the time the regular night crowd rolls in. Doesn’t seem like a terrible idea. Also, VH1 seems to be less terrified of offending anybody than Logo. Logo is so hyper sensitive that they used to play the show at 10pm.
Bob LaBlah
Considering the high cost of living in L.A., San Franscisco, Chicago and NYC it wouldn’t surprise me if they “lobbied” for this change to keep the happy hour crowd in the bars just a little longer. I was in NYC during the holidays and left expecting the Hangar to be closed or moved by years end. Thats just how sparse the crowd was, even on the weekend.
viciouslies
Bob LaBlah: Gurr, do not judge the health of NYC gay bar culture based on the Hangar. That place was tired the last time I went in 1999. Walk down the street to Pieces or Duplex or get to HK or something.
Bob LaBlah
@viciouslies…………I stand with my assessment in regarding gay bars and Christopher street. The truth is the truth. In two years it would shock me if only Stonewall Inn was the only gay bar on that street still there.
Sluggo2007
The West Village has been tired for some time. The gay boys hang out in Chelsea now.
sfmike64
Hey kiddies. There’s this new thingie called a DVR. So you can RECORD the show and watch it whenever you want!
Look at that! Technology solving problems.!
When a show airs is completely irrelevant now.
viciouslies
What bar is gonna DVR it and play it later, henny?? The whole point is to be out with friends, watching it live, not to come in three days later after everyone already spilt the T and spoilt it for ya.
RoughRugger
…except that there’s this “new thingie” called social media and NOT watching a show live (especially a competition show) leaves one open to spoilers.
DarkZephyr
Agreed, and I always stream the show on Amazon anyway. Never watch it directly on cable.
DarkZephyr
Spoilers are definitely an issue that I have always dealt with, but Monday Nights, Friday Nights, whatever. I am always busy when its live anyway.
Xzamilloh
Uh, no, the whole point is to stay the hell off of social media if you’re not watching it live… or stay your ass home and watch it. What you find out on social media because you can’t be bothered to put the phone down for a few hours is not anyone else’s problem
paul dorian lord fredine
whatever night an original episode was on i never got to see it and then it got dropped from my cable package. at least moving to vh1 i can get to see it again. as for the bars, set up drag race viewing parties during happy hour to rein in the crowd. the main crush or those not interested won’t be showing up until later anyway.
lauraspencer
This is bad news for DRAG RACE. What makes a hit show on Logo isn’t the same as a hit show on Vh1. Logo is in roughly 50 million homes and Vh1 is in 100 million. It doesn’t take as many viewers to be a hit on Logo. Viacom will expect a higher rating on Vh1 to justify it being on Vh1. When it doesn’t get the necessary numbers it will be canceled. If Viacom were truly invested in the success of Logo and DRAG RACE they would have aired the show on Vh1 and MTV in earlier seasons to gain new viewers who would then want to get Logo so they could watch the series on its original channel.
MarionPaige
there is a very very basic flaw with BOTH Logo and Drag Race being broadcast on a Viacom property, the money from a Gay property just isn’t enough to support something as huge as Viacom. In another sense,
Some argue that Rupal’s Drag Race would have been cancelled long ago were it not for its straight female audience. So, in other words,
It is the straight female audience on Friday nights at 8:00 pm that matters to Drag Race.
BigJune
It is $$$$$$$$$$$ all the way for Ms Ru.
Emmy brings interest to big TV companies, she has sold out.
Excuse will be taking the LGBT etc. agenda mainstream.
Take the freak show to VH1 -‘Momma Ru’ – that is how it feels to me.
Ru is after a major come back & the people who supported, fans, tv companies & sponsors – well they can donate or get a mention, but at what price. $$$$$$$
All the way.
Alan down in Florida
@BigJune is right but it may not be RuPaul selling out. It may in fact be Logo which is marginally financially solvent. By selling the broadcast rights for the show’s first run episodes Logo is probably making more money than it does offering the shows initially on Logo.
jaysquared
Hate to be the bearer of bad news but this is all part of a bigger plan to get rid of the Logo network all together. Viacom has mentioned that they are planning on doing away with all but 6 of their networks. Reason being, the majority of them only show re-runs, which are mostly accessible through platforms like Netflix and Hulu. From a financial standpoint it makes sense but a lot of other businesses and fans of those fallen networks will suffer.
Biscuits
Viacom is dropping and combining networks this year. LOGO is going bye-bye soon.
He BGB
I haven’t watched Drag Race the last couple of years probably after Sharon Needles. Interesting comments here though.
Winter
Friday night is the death slot of TV. Worst timeslot. I’m not happy with the date. As long as VH1 doesn’t get any say in production I’m fine with the rest.
ggore
The fact that Logo is not available in HD means this change makes perfect sense. If you wanted to watch Drag Race in HD you had to do it via a streaming service after it aired on Logo. Now it will be available in HD day/date. Some things don’t necessarily need to be seen in HD, drag queens being one of them (LOL), but other than being on Friday night, this is a good move for Ru. I will just DVR it.