First season Real Housewives of Rhode Island brings national attention to Ocean State

(WJAR) — The first season of the Real Housewives of Rhode Island has officially wrapped.

Now, fans of the franchise will look forward to the two- part reunion, and the filming of season two.

The first season featured a variety of Rhode Island businesses and locations, creating national exposure for the state.

According to NBCUniversal, the series reached 2.7 million viewers across platforms within its first 7 days, breaking records.

“One big theme this season is seeing how beautiful Rhode island is,” said 92 Pro FM’s and Real Talk Rhody’s, Bekah Berger.

“People are engaged, people are watching, and the people who aren’t, that’s fine,” she said.

Whether you’re a fan or not, there’s no denying the show has put eyes on Rhode Island and the local businesses featured on the show.

The owner and CEO of Rail Explorers in Portsmouth told NBC 10 she saw an 860% increase in traffic on their website and a 64% increase in sales the week after the episode the business was featured on aired.

The production of the show also aided in Rhode Island success, by contributing directly to Rhode Island’s film and TV ecosystem through local hiring, use of vendors, and production activity in the state.

Rhode Island staples even got their five minutes of fame.

“The pizza chip and pizza strip were like its own housewife in itself,” said Berger.

DePetrillo’s Pizza owner, Jordan Smith, said more people are inquiring about pizza chips.

“Especially out of state, when the graduations were recently, more Connecticut, New York people were stopping in and figuring out what it was about,” said Smith.

DePetrillos Pizza owner, Jordan Smith, says he’s seen more selfies with pizza chips and strips than ever before.

He said he’s seen more customers taking photos of their pizza chips and tagging the business when they post it.

From pizza to police, Bravo included it all.

Closing out season one was a clip from our NBC 10 newscast reporting on the arrest of Brian Pontarelli after he was accused of placing an electronic tracking device on his wife, Rulla’s car.

The first part of the reunion will air Sunday.

Filming for season two is scheduled to begin in July.