Whenever a TV show gets cancelled, thousands of fans ask, “Why do TV shows get cancelled?’ As someone who writes a lot of articles about both the entertainment industry, and about business, I have to state that these fans forget that the entertainment industry is a business that has to sometimes make hard decisions about money.
Why Do TV Shows Get Cancelled – Viewers
For the most part, most TV shows that get cancelled do so because of the fact that viewership is just not there. Some shows start off with very high viewership, and then dwindle of over time. Some dwindle within the first few episodes, while other might take a few years until the number begin to fade.
The lower the viewership of a show, the less the network can charge for the ads. Most large companies will not be interested in having their ads shown on breaks from shows that just are not getting the numbers. TV executives usually find that they can put another show in the timeslot and reap the higher reward of more sponsorship dollars.
In the case of a show like, “Firefly,” viewership was so low that the show had to be cancelled half way through the season. Viewership did not break the five million mark, so it was not worth the effort for FOX to keep it around.
Why Do TV Shows Get Cancelled – Cost
On a rarer occasion, a show might have decent viewership, but still be cancelled because the production costs do not leave enough room for a decent profit for the network. In the case of, “The X-Files,” viewership of the last season was still close to 10 million, but with the loss of Gillian Anderson, and the production costs to make the show, FOX did not think that it was worth keeping the show going.
Why Do TV Shows Come Back?
There has been a rare occurrence that has popped up from time to time over the last ten years in which fan pressure has caused the TV networks to bring back certain shows with high fan support. To continue picking on FOX, the show, “Family Guy,” was brought back after being off of FOX for a few years because of the pressure from the fans that had discovered the show on Cartoon Network. If a network believes that it will have the fan base once a show returns, the show will be brought back up, and renewed.
In the case of, “Firefly,” there was a lot of fan pressure, but not enough of an ability to make the show into a regular series. At the time, many of the main actors and actresses were already being appeased by production companies for movies, and other TV shows. If production would have gone into place for a new version of the, “Firefly,” TV show, “Terminator: Chronicles,” “V,” and “Castle,” might not have ever gotten off of the ground. Instead, a feature length movie was made, and the fans gobbled it up. On a personal note, I loved, “Firefly,” but, “Castle,” has become my favorite show on TV. I benefit from the decision.
TV shows get cancelled for many reasons, but the money is the least common denominator. If a network thinks that it can make enough off of a show, it keeps it around. If the network thinks that show is not drawing enough, it will be cancelled. No matter what the reason, fans are usually the ones holding the ball wondering what to do next.
Sources:
Wikipedia/X-Files
Wikipedia/Firefly (TV series)
