'Sorority Sisters' Draws 1M Viewers For Second Episode

Despite the controversy surrounding VH1’s reality series Sorority Sisters, the show continues to draw big numbers for the cable network.

The series, which follows the lives of women who are members of several black Greek sororities and has been criticized by the organizations for depicting the sororities in a negative light, drew 1 million viewers in its second episode Monday night, according to Nielsen.

The Dec. 15 premiere episode of the series drew 1.3 million viewers, well above the network’s 611,000 primetime viewership average for November.

Several advertisers including Honda and Hallmark have already pulled out of the show due to the criticism, according to published reports. Several online petitions have also launch in an effort to force VH1 to cancel the show.

But so far VH1 is sticking with Sorority Sisters. The network would not comment on the series' latest ratings numbers, but last week said in a statement: “We are definitely hearing the conversation around Sorority Sisters and are taking the concerns of our viewers into account. Currently there are no changes planned for the series.”

As for the advertiser pullout, VH1 again refused to comment but last week said that it "enjoys successful, long-term partnerships with our advertisers and are happy to honor any requests to move spots to other parts of our schedule.”

R. Thomas Umstead

R. Thomas Umstead serves as senior content producer, programming for Multichannel News, Broadcasting + Cable and Next TV. During his more than 30-year career as a print and online journalist, Umstead has written articles on a variety of subjects ranging from TV technology, marketing and sports production to content distribution and development. He has provided expert commentary on television issues and trends for such TV, print, radio and streaming outlets as Fox News, CNBC, the Today show, USA Today, The New York Times and National Public Radio. Umstead has also filmed, produced and edited more than 100 original video interviews, profiles and news reports featuring key cable television executives as well as entertainers and celebrity personalities.