RuPaul’s Drag Race: A Herstory of Cable Confusion
Finding RuPaul’s Drag Race (RPDR) is like trying to find a needle in a queen’s wig: a tedious, near-impossible task. Even as an avid watcher of the hit reality TV competition, navigating new seasons proves arduous—I seem to join a new niche streaming service every year just to get my drag fix. This is largely due to RPDR’s long herstory of network hopping that has disseminated the show across multiple platforms over the years, leaving us loyal squirrel friends to piece together the scattered seasons.
As President Obama came into office in 2009, RuPaul was gearing up to showcase the Drag World on television with RPDR, specifically through Paramount’s small channel, Logo. OG fans recall the show’s low-budget set, orange filter, and greasy lens, but the humble beginnings soon grew into a global franchise. Over the course of 15 seasons, RPDR would amass thousands of viewers and several spin-offs including UnTucked, RuPaul’s Drag U, RP Drag Race: Ruvealed, and most recently, RuPaul's Secret Celebrity Drag Race. As the show prospered in its early days, it expanded the budget by hopping to VH1 (another Paramount-owned channel) for season 9. With this switch in 2017, ratings doubled, A-list celebrities like Lady Gaga made appearances, and RPDR won its first Emmy. Yet, as younger demographics leaned toward streaming services instead of cable television, navigating the networks began to get disorienting: WOW Present Plus offered the show on demand, Hulu gained a handful of seasons, All Stars season 5 would move to Showtime, and Paramount+ housed all the seasons—the show was divvied up faster than you can say LalaPaRuza. Today, RPDR’s latest season airs on MTV. Though most of the negotiated jumps fell under the Viacom CBS umbrella, fans of the show endure vertigo-like dizziness trying to locate the beloved drag competition—a problem that can perhaps be associated with the rapidly transforming television ecosystem.
Traditional cable television is sold in bundles of channels, ranging from basic packages to premium packs of larger libraries—essentially, the larger cable bill allows viewers to access a plethora of networks under one payment. However, more and more American households are cutting the cables and switching to streaming services for content. Now, as streaming platforms dominate youth consumption of media, consumers find themselves paying multiple, much lighter bills, but at a cost of convenience: one must find which services house which shows, as networks carve up their content for various platforms. Without bundling, shows like RPDR float around on multiple services that watchers must pinpoint and pay for. As we enter a new age of consumption, it appears that over-the-top media services may have to clean up negotiations for the sake of the consumer, and RPDR, among other series, might want to consolidate their content. Otherwise, the pesky puzzle just to access the show will make drag race fanatics sashay away.
If you are an NYU student interested in watching the latest season of RPDR, I highly recommend tuning into live (or recording) new episodes on Philo TV, a free service if you are connected to NYU wifi. Currently, seasons 1-13 are on Paramount+, 4-9 on Hulu, 14 on MTV (for free), and all can be purchased on Amazon video or Youtube TV. If you are seeking other shows in the RuPaul multiverse, this Buzzfeed article contains a solid list.
