As Grant Wilson leaves "Ghost Hunters," the show will face different hurdles than ever before. There is a good chance that the ratings for the show will plummet after the departure of the one of the main stars. These are the struggles the producers and Syfy will face in the near future.
Holding Ratings
When the final episode of "Ghost Hunters" has aired, a review of the ratings should prove Grant's last episodes were among the highest rated in the history of the paranormal investigation show. The challenge comes in keeping the fans around. While facing this challenge, the producers and Syfy will find that the other issues on this list will magnify their retention problem.
Grant's Fans
Without having hard numbers, logic would dictate that there would be fans who watch the show primarily because they like Wilson. This can be said about any show with strong main figures, but how will Syfy hold on to these viewers once he packs up his bags for the last time? Will the network attempt to profile him from time to time to keep these fans placated? How would the fans feel about seeing a "retired" star again in the future? Surely this would discredit the strength of Grant's leaving and diminish faith in the show as a whole.
Experimental Stage
Jason Hawes has already declared this season that there will not immediately be a new person moved up to take Grant's lead place on the show. Instead, the TAPS members will be shifted around into various teams until they can find the pairings that work the best for everyone. In doing so, the teams, which have already gained a strong chemistry (such as Steve and Tango or Amy and Adam), will be broken up and the viewers will be left out in the cold as they have to adjust to pairings they have not seen before. This could easily cause the viewers to tune out.
New Co-Lead
Eventually, someone is going to have to take over a leadership position with Jason. There are inevitably going to be fans who like the new co-leader while there will be others who do not. The TAPS team is going to have to do what they can to keep the fans who do not like the decision or their viewership could be reduced exponentially in a matter of weeks.
It will be interesting to see how the "Ghost Hunters" team deals with losing Grant, and how the fans deal with it. It should not automatically be assumed that all of the fans will like the new setup, and it should not be assumed that the show will keep the high ratings moving forward. While the new version of the show has room to grow, it has much more room to falter.
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