SHOW CRISIS American Pickers ratings among lowest in 14-year history despite bump in viewers on latest episode

AMERICAN Pickers ratings are among the lowest in the show’s 14-year history despite the latest episode bringing in a bump in viewership.

American Pickers stars Mike and Robbie Wolfe, Danielle Colby and Jon “Jersey” Szalay.

The U.S. Sun can exclusively reveal the November 13 episode, Pickin’ Wall to Wall, had 582,000 viewers watch.

On the episode, Mike, 60, picked through a massive wall of antiques to get to treasures in Connecticut, while Robbie and Jersey went through a California collector’s general store.

This was the highest episode of the season, as November 6, 2024’s Carnival Cashout brought in 547,000 viewers.

DIY Delorean, which aired on October 30, brought in the lowest ratings of the season with just 442,000 viewers.

The third episode of Season 26, The Great Razooly, saw a slight surge with 566,000 viewers on October 23.

The second episode of the season, Wolfemen vs. The Automations, brought in just 463,000 viewers on October 16.

The premiere episode on October 9 brought in 565,000 fans as Mike picked through Evel Knievel memorabilia.

RATINGS HISTORY
While November 13 was the highest-rated for Season 26, the episode is among the lowest in the show’s 14-year history.

Season 25’s most-watched episode was on February 28, 2024 with 966,000 viewers.

The last time ratings dropped down to the 500s was for the August 30, 2023 episode, as 554,000 viewers watched, though it was a re-run episode on History Channel.

Ratings were strong for Season 24, which ran from January 4, 2023 to August 23, 2023, with 620,000 to 943,000 viewers tuning in.

For Season 23, the February 26, 2022 episode had 1,191,000 viewers, while the July 30, 2022 episode dropped to 653,000.

Season 22, which aired in 2021, had over one million viewers watch for most episodes, as the same was true for Season 21, which aired in 2019 and 2020.

American Pickers ratings were mostly over one million for 2018 and 2017, seasons 17 to 19.

In 2016, 2015 and 2014, seasons 11 to 16, episodes reached over two million viewers.

Ratings for earlier seasons are not available.

FAN REACTION
In recent weeks, fans have called for the show’s cancellation after a successful run on television.

“This show needs to go… cancel this show it’s a husk of what it was,” one fan wrote.

Another said, “It was never good. This show ruined the buying/selling market.”

A third asked, “Will American Pickers continue?”

MORE PICKERS
But despite the ratings crisis and fan backlash, The U.S. Sun reported in May 2024 that the series has more seasons left in its contract.

“They’re filming for Season 26, and they have signed on for three more years,” the show insider claimed.

Mike revealed earlier this month that he will start filming for the new season soon.

MISSING FRANK
Original cast member Frank Fritz, who passed away on September 30, 2024, last appeared on American Pickers in March 2020.

He took time off to undergo back surgery, but in 2021 Mike revealed he was not returning to the series.

Frank told The U.S. Sun during a 2021 interview that he was feuding with his co-star Mike.

In an interview with People from earlier this month, Mike revealed why Frank did not return to the History Channel series.

He explained that during the pandemic, Frank injured his back and underwent surgery.

“With that time off and him having surgery, it was like the perfect storm. He became addicted to opioids, and that’s when everything changed,” Mike said.

Mike said he staged an intervention with Frank’s loved ones.

He claimed Frank continued to struggle with addiction when filming started, as they “fought really hard to get him into rehab” and he “never, ever gave up” on his friend.

Mike claimed production asked Frank for negative drug tests, but he didn’t provide them.

Mike said the network “just finally made the decision.”

A source claimed to The U.S. Sun about how Frank’s substance abuse battle began.

“Because of Frank’s battle with Crohn’s, he was on medication that left his bones weak. When he broke his back, he needed to undergo surgery.

“That’s when he got addicted to pain medication,” the insider claimed.

Crohn’s is a bowel disease that causes inflammation in the digestive tract.

The source alleged that Frank “went to rehab twice” to combat his addiction issues.

“He got out, and then he suffered the stroke,” the insider alleged.

In the July 2021 interview with The U.S. Sun, Frank said he entered treatment for alcohol abuse in Bettendorf, Iowa for 77 days.

He was sober for 11 months at the time of the interview.

HEALTH CRISIS
Frank suffered a stroke at his Iowa farmhouse in July 2022.

Frank’s friends filed a guardianship and conservatorship for him because his “decision­-making capacity” was “so impaired.”

He passed away in hospice two years later on September 30, 2024, at 60 years old.

Despite the firing and feud, Mike and Frank made up before his passing.

Mike and other loved ones were by Frank’s side when he passed away in hospice.

FRANK’S LEGACY
Frank’s good friend Jerry Gendreau previously told The U.S. Sun how the series hasn’t been the same without the star.

“I think the show is not nearly as good as it was.

“With the ratings, it doesn’t have to be me or somebody thinking that, the nation knows it’s not what it was.

“It needed Frank.”