Keeping Up with the Kardashians took many by surprise with the sudden announcement that the show would end with Season 20. The family’s “momager” Kris Jenner was the one to break the news and, now, she is revealing how a significant change in the world factored into her family’s decision to end their reality show. And unlike other reported reasons, this one doesn't have a direct connection to money.
With a surprise development like the Kardashian-Jenners announcing the end of Keeping Up with the Kardashians, there are bound to be questions. One of the early reasons reported for the decision was that Kris Jenner had balked at her family’s salary to continue the E! reality show. Fast forward a bit after the dust has settled, and Jenner has provided another significant cause. She told WWD:
When we first started, there was no Instagram or Snapchat or other social media platforms. The world has changed. Now there are so many, the viewer doesn’t have to wait three or four months to see an episode. We can give them all of the information anyone would ever want to know in real time.
In other words, it's not so difficult to keep up with the Kardashian-Jenners these days. Thanks to social media, fans can have a real-time glimpse into their favorite family members’ lives. It does not take a lot of thought to know that Kris Jenner has a point. In a prime example, fans got to see Kourtney Kardashian show off a picture of son Reign’s dramatic haircut on Instagram.
There's a catch when you think about it, though. After their show ends, the Kardashian-Jenners should have much tighter control over what content makes it to viewers’ eyes. Once Keeping Up with the Kardashians is over, will in-fighting between the family make it to social media? For instance, would Kim Kardashian West and Kourtney Kardashian’s epic fight have made it onto their social media accounts? I doubt it.
On that note, Keeping Up with the Kardashians recently witnessed an intense skirmish between sisters Kylie and Kendall Jenner, the source of which Kim Kardashian West explained on social media. A blow-up of that magnitude made it onto the show, where the family theoretically has less control over what makes it to the air. Social media is a more freeing means of updating fans as Kris Jenner sort of touched on when she said:
Social media is the fastest and most controlled way to get the message out. The consumer gets to see the products the girls are working on in real time, and they know we’re going to get it out the door pretty quickly. The girls want them to be part of the journey to keep them engaged.
The advantage is two-fold in that the Kardashian-Jenners can have a more direct connection to their fans and have control over what comes across the screen. Kris Jenner noting how much the playing field has changed since Keeping Up with the Kardashians began all the way back in 2007 is a wonderful reminder of how far social media and the famous family have come.
The nineteenth/penultimate season of Keeping Up with Kardashians is currently airing—new episodes of the latest Kardashian-Jenner drama air Thursdays at 8 p.m. ET. The reality show is one of many series airing as one of this fall’s premieres. Keeping Up with the Kardashians’ twentieth and final season is anticipated to air sometime during 2021.
