Monday, May 20, 2013

Cancellation Watch: Cable, Amazon Interested in Hannibal if Cancelled by NBC; Warehouse 13 to End After Shortened Fifth Season


This last Thursday, NBC's Hannibal pulled another 1.1 rating in the 18-49 demographic with 2.5 million total viewers and the network still has not announced the show's fate (it's the only 2012-13 series still awaiting a decision).  But the word is that if NBC decides to pass on a second season, others may be interested in keeping the show going.  According to Deadline Hollywood, at least one cable network (they did not specify which one) would be interested in picking up the series and Amazon might raise their hand as well to add it to the original offerings of their Instant Video service.  Both of these moves would make plenty of sense because the show, with its rather grim subject matter, would seem to fit better in an off-network setting (NBC already pulled one episode because they thought it was too graphic for Prime Time, and their Salt Lake City affiliate also yanked one episode).  However, it may not be as simple as cable or Amazon raising their hand to continue the show.  There are licensing agreements in place and the Hannibal franchise (which also encompasses the books and movies) is one that its studio (not quite sure who owns it) will likely want to keep a tight grip on.  But the interest alone means that the show still has a chance, perhaps even as a join venture between Amazon and NBC similar to what DirecTV did with Friday Night Lights.  And it's still possible that NBC could decide to renew the show for a second season and bring it back for another thirteen episode run at mid-season.  So don't count this one out yet and keep an eye out here and at the Cancellation Watch Twitter Site for updates on its status.

We do know the status of Syfy's Warehouse 13 now (currently airing its fourth season) as the network made an announcement last week that the show would come back for a final season of six episodes.  That show, which was once their flagship scripted series, has slipped in the ratings during its fourth season and the network apparently decided to go ahead and put it to rest with a pretty robust development slate currently in their pipeline.  It has averaged a 0.5 rating in the 18-49 demographic throughout its fourth season, which apparently they have decided is not enough to keep it afloat for an extended, ongoing run.  The network made a similar move with Eureka last year, though they nixed a planned six episode sixth season and ended the show with the fifth season that was already in production.  The final season of Warehouse 13 will air at some point in 2014.

Below are the numbers for all the genre shows from last week.  Since all the renewal and cancellation notices (except for Hannibal) have gone out and most shows have had their finales, I won't be running my usual mid-week column covering the latest ratings developments.  But I will continue to post the numbers for those shows still airng on the Cancellation Watch Twitter Site and the full week summary here on Mondays.  Plus, I will be running several posts this week and beyond recapping this past season and looking ahead at Summer and Fall.  You can see the Cancellation Alert status for all of this season's genre shows plus the final results from prior seasons at my Cancellation Watch page.  And for questions on how the ratings work and my Cancellation Alert statuses, you can see the Cancellation Watch FAQ.

Ratings Results for the Week of May 12:
Once Upon A Time (ABC Sun 8 PM) Rating: 2.3 | Trend: Up | Cancellation Alert: Moderate
Game of Thrones (HBO Sun 9 PM) Rating: 2.4 | Trend: Up | Cancellation Alert: Renewed
Defiance (Syfy Mon 9 PM) Rating: 0.6 | Trend: Steady | Cancellation Alert: Low
Warehouse 13 (Syfy Mon 10 PM) Rating: 0.4 | Trend: Steady | Cancellation Alert: Low
Bates Motel (A&E Mon 10 PM) Rating: 1.0 | Trend: Steady | Cancellation Alert: Renewed
Revolution (NBC Mon 10 PM) Rating: 1.9 | Trend: Up | Cancellation Alert: Renewed
Grimm (NBC Fri 9 PM) Rating: 1.7 | Trend: Down | Cancellation Alert: Renewed
Arrow (CW Wed 8 PM) Rating: 0.9 | Trend: Steady | Cancellation Alert: Renewed
Supernatural (CW Wed 9 PM) Rating: 1.0 | Trend: Steady | Cancellation Alert: Renewed
Vampire Diaries (CW Thu 8 PM) Rating: 1.1 | Trend: Steady | Cancellation Alert: Renewed
Beauty and the Beast (CW Thu 9 PM) Rating: 0.5 | Trend: Steady | Cancellation Alert: Renewed
Hannibal (NBC Thu 10 PM) Rating: 1.1 | Trend: Steady | Cancellation Alert: Elevated
Nikita (CW Fri 8 PM) Rating: 0.4 | Trend: Steady | Cancellation Alert: Moderate


Ratings Source: TV by the Numbers

Nielsen TV Ratings: ©2013 The Nielsen Company. All Rights Reserved.



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