Analysts have noted in the past few seasons that networks seem less likely to immediately a new series because of poor performance, trying to give new shows a bit of time to find themselves before yanking them off the air.
That means several new series that may have been canceled after two or three episodes a decade ago are given another chance, or more often this year, getting a slight trim to their season orders.
In the past month, NBC has cut season orders for Truth Be Told and The Player, Fox cut Minority Report by three episodes and ABC cut Blood & Oil from 13 episodes to 10.
As The Hollywood Reporter put it, “trimmed became the new canceled” this season.
Broadcasters seem to be putting more trust in delayed viewing, waiting for ratings for Live +3, +7, even +30 days before making a decision on new series’ fates. Fox’s Scream Queens, for example, grew its audience by more than 50 percent within three days of its premiere.
Combine that with lower audiences for broadcast shows overall, and networks are forcing themselves to give each new series a bit more of a chance.
That doesn’t mean networks want to waste their air on low-performing shows, however, which is why several of these new series are merely cutting back so that broadcasters can begin to plan for their replacements if ratings don’t improve.
Read more at The Hollywood Reporter.
Image courtesy of NBC
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