The History Channel has found a pretty big hit in Alone, the survival series which features 10 people competing against one another to survive the longest in the wilderness. The last survivalist standing will earn a $500,000 prize. The show has aired globally since it first premiered earlier this summer and has been a pretty good hit for the cable network. Which is why we shouldn’t be surprised that History has signed on for a second season of Alone just ahead of the Season 1 finale.
Alone has averaged 2.5 million total viewers an episode so far, which is quite a few people to tune in for a cable reality series (although would be small potatoes on network TV). Plus, earlier this season History reported that Alone was up in viewership after its first five episodes and is the #1 cable program in its Thursday slot, although since it's airing during the summertime, it’s a wee bit less impressive. Regardless, the survival-based related series also can’t be that expensive to produce and should be a win all around for the History Channel. Production on Season 2 is set to begin this fall.
While reality shows aren’t always compelling TV, Alone does have an intriguing premise. There are “no camera crews, no teams and no producers” (at least on hand) as History puts it. The survivalists carry cameras and are dropped off in the woods, alone, and forced to survive using only the items they carried with them in one backpack. Sometimes they can’t find food or the weather is bad or the fire nearly goes out, as happens in the clip, below.
On the bright side, they get to wear clothing, unlike the contestants in Discovery’s similar series Naked and Afraid. The format of Discovery’s show is a bit different than History’s. People on the Discovery show get paid for their time spent in the wilderness while contestants on Alone only get a payday if they win the grand prize. Both shows are a bit different, but both offer interesting reasons to watch.
Alone’s Season 1 finale actually airs tomorrow night at 10 p.m. ET, and if you haven’t given the show a watch yet, tomorrow would be a great opportunity to tune in. You can also view episodes of Alone over at History’s site.
