A&E’s hit show Duck Dynasty has finally earned a Season 4 premiere date. Fans have known the series would return to A&E’s lineup for a while, but some contract snafus prevented A&E from announcing an official return date for quite some time. Luckily, the turnaround from announcement to premiere won’t be too long. Season 4 of Duck Dynasty is already well into the throes of filming and will hit the schedule on August 14.
The Robinson clan was mostly known for creating a popular line of duck calls before Duck Dynasty became a reality series. Now, the family is also known for starring in the reality series, as well as for the beards the men in the clan sport. Each week, audiences are privy to a fairly mundane plot that is peppered with wild comments and personalities. Apparently, that’s enough to keep people coming back for more. A&E now claims the show is the #1 “non-fiction show” on cable, and the ratings for the show at least prove Duck Dynasty is doing very well.
The Season 3 finale actually pulled in 9.6 million total viewers, a number which also happens to be higher than any other A&E program the network has aired, ever. Let’s think about this for a minute. A&E’s scripted program, Longmire, did a little over 3.3 million total viewers last week while The Glades did a little over 2 million total viewers. Duck Dynasty’s numbers are nearly three times what Sheriff Longmire manages to rope in. In fact, Duck Dynasty’s numbers are better than what most programs on NBC bring in and are even competitive with CBS’ hit freshman drama Elementary in the latter half of the season last year. That show crushes.
Unfortunately, these high ratings led to a contract dispute, with Deadline reporting the clan asked for a salary jump to $200,000 per episode—which will likely help out the family members who don’t do as well in the duck call business.
Apparently, some agreement was eventually reached and now A&E is reporting the new season will kick off with a one-hour special episode on August 14 at 10 p.m. ET. The premiere episode should be a winner, at least if you are a fan of the clan and its antics. In the episode, it will by Kay and Phil’s 49th wedding anniversary. Uncle Si is enlisted to distract them, while the rest of the gang puts together a surprise vow renewal ceremony. Hijinks ensue.
If you’d like to catch up on the series, Duck Dynasty: Season 3 will also be available on DVD beginning on August 6.
