CBS Entertainment president Amy Reisenbach says that she and other execs at America’s Most Watched Network would “toss and turn” while deciding which shows to cancel this spring.
“I’m a big fan of TV first and I sympathize and relate to all of the fans out there who are disappointed in the fact that these shows are ending,” Reisenbach said on Tuesday at the Banff World Media Festival (per our sister site Variety). “But at the end of the day, our job at CBS is to make those really tough calls,” she added, echoing the comments she made in May at CBS’ fall schedule reveal soiree.
Over the course of a week in April, CBS pulled the plug on CSI: Vegas (after three seasons), So Help Me Todd (after two) and NCIS: Hawai’i (after three). The network then went on to announce a fall schedule that includes two new dramas — NCIS: Origins (aka the Young Gibbs prequel spinoff) and Kathy Bates’ Matlock — and closes out each Sunday night with drama reruns.
“We toss and turn and have sleepless nights and have endless discussions” about cancellations and renewals, “but we look at all of the numbers,” Reisenbach said at Banff. “We look at what our projections are for the future, we look at where we see opportunities to potentially have even bigger success on the schedule.”
NCIS: Hawai’i this past TV season averaged 7.81 million total viewers (with Live+7 playback), up 4% from its Season 2 audience and ranking No. 6 out of the 14 dramas that CBS aired. CSI: Vegas (averaging 6.1 million) was similarly up, 7%, year-over-year, though it drew the smallest audience of any CBS drama.
So Help Me Todd (with 6.2 million viewers) was down 3% from its freshman season, ranking No. 12 out of 14 CBS dramas.
“It is incumbent on us to always keep the schedule fresh, keep momentum going,” Reisenbach said back in May. “Everything came back [from the Hollywood strikes] really strong, but ultimately we have to look at the cohesiveness of the schedule flow. We have to evaluate the financials and the performance overall, and we make tough decisions.”
Among CBS’ returning series, Blue Bloods is heading into the back half of its farewell season this fall, and Reisenbach said last month that there are no plans to renew the long-running cop/family drama — despite cast members (Tom Selleck included) lobbying for at least a longer farewell run. “We love this cast, we love their passion for the show,” she noted. “We are going to end the show come December.”
