The Kardashians Struggle to Keep Up as Reality Show's Ratings Continue to Drop

The Kardashians are back, but are they better? Viewers might finally be tiring of the reality clan's animated antics, because the once popular E! reality show Keeping Up With the Kardashians is going down — at least when it comes to the ratings.

Numbers for the kickoff of the second half of the show's ninth season were down following last week's new episode, leading veteran showbiz blogger Nikki Finke to proclaim, "The Kardashians are krashing." 

The second half of the ninth season of KUWTK debuted on June 8 with an episode called "Let It Go," but it definitely didn't channel the popularity of the mega blockbuster Frozen, with only 1.1 million viewers in the 18-49 demographic. And that's even with Kourtney's latest baby news. (She announced she's expecting her third child with longtime love Scott Disick on the episode.)

Ditto the June 15 episode, "Color Me Lonely," which featured a cooking Kim, a crying Kylie, and a battling Bruce and Kris. (The exes bickered over her "controlling" ways and his ponytail, and yes, the momager called her estranged hubby a "hot mess.") That episode clocked inwith slightly over 2 million viewers — a far cry from the show's record of 4.1 million viewers, when Kim wed Kris Humphries in 2009.

Last year at this time, Season 8 of the show kicked off with footage of Kim Kardashian finding out the sex of her baby with rapper Kanye West (As many now know, it's a girl!), and the show enjoyed a baby-related ratings bump. That episode, "We're Having a Baby," garnered 3 million overall viewers, but the ratings for the series steadily declined.

By October, the once huge E! show had slipped to 1.8 million viewers overall (and 1 million viewers for 18-49 demographic) for the "Baby Shower Blues" episode, and the season average fell to 2.3 million viewers.

If a similar pattern follows this year, the show could finish below the 1.5 million mark for overall viewers.

"Even so, KUWTK remains E!'s No. 1 show. Kim Kardashian has gone on record saying her family will continue on with the reality show for a 10th season, while Bruce Jenner told E! News that he was lookingforward to "Season 10 and any future seasons.

The big question is, will anyone still be around to watch it?

Keeping Up With the Kardashians airs on Sundays at 9 p.m. on E!.