American Pickers ratings shocker as show premieres for its 27th season
The viewing figures dropped massively from the season 26 finale, which attracted 708,000 viewers
American Pickers: Mike Wolfe views Corvette drag racer
American Pickers has seen its ratings plummet to an all-time low for the season 27 premiere, despite Mike Wolfe shelling out big bucks on antiques.
In the premiere of the History Channel show, Mike, 60, and Jon "Jersey" Jon Szalay, rummaged through a warehouse brimming with antiques from a deceased collector and spent thousands on items including Mike forking out $8k on model race cars.
But it failed to captivate a large audience and recorded the lowest viewership in the history of the show.
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A mere 390,000 viewers tuned into the episode, a significant decline from the season 26 finale, which attracted 708,000 viewers. the U.S. Sun reports.
This represents a significant decline from the season 26 finale, which attracted 708,000 viewers.
Season 26's peak viewership hit 760,000 on December 18 at its least-watched episode which aired on October 30 last year saw viewership dip to 442,000.
American Pickers once boasted over one million viewers per episode when late former cast member Frank Fritz was part of it.
Frank departed from the series in 2020 and tragically passed away on September 30, 2024, two years after a severe stroke.
Other shows on the History Channel continues to garner impressive ratings, with its top show Secret of Skinwalker Ranch pulling in 985,000 viewers last week.
American Pickers currently ranks 8th among History Channel's lineup.
In the season premiere, Mike and Jersey delve into a late collector's treasure trove in Tennessee.
They first set their sights on a collection of vintage bikes.
Mike decided to spend $6,250 on two Whizzer bikes and a Cushman bike.
Next, Mike turned his attention to a 1930s New York-themed claw machine.
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The late collector's sibling consented to part with the antique for a cool $1,000.
Jersey shelled out $1,600 for a fully operational 25 cent Poinsettia slot machine.
Mike described the model cars he bought as "incredible", adding, "Some of them can be extremely expensive.
"These things are epic. It's getting harder to find any tether car."
Some viewers said they were thrilled with the show on X, including one fan who said, "Very cool & beautiful slot machine! ! ! I am surprised that it was 25 cents as I would think that was a little steep in 1936! ... I love how these could be lowered & hidden too for the Prohibition! Very clever engineering & design!".
Another viewer said, "Man, one of the best collections and segments I've seen in a while. Well done."
A third added, "Now that is cool!".
The launch of the series heads comes after Mike shared it is going to have filming break of between four and five months - its biggest filming hiatus ever.
In a chat with People, Mike explained, "For 15 years, we have just been going and going and going. I think we're going to have at least four or five months off, so it's going to be good."
Discussing the break, a source said, "He's got a couple of things he's doing. He's coming out with a show at the end of the year. He's opening up a second vacation rental.
"He's going to stay picking. He's just trying to slow it down and get a little bit more time for family. His daughter just turned 13. He's like, 'I want to be involved with my teenager!'".
