CBS announced yesterday that they have picked up the “back 9” episodes of their new series Limitless giving it a full season order of twenty two. The news does not come as a huge surprise because it has been one of the best performing new shows this season. And while its numbers haven’t been great, it has been doing well for the 10 PM EST Tuesday timeslot (pulling a 1.7 rating based on the overnights for the 18-49 demo for its first two episodes) and it has performed slightly ahead of the curve in what has been a lackluster Fall season. However, Limitless did drop to a 1.4 rating with its third episode and remained at that level this past week. So it has already dropped to a somewhat iffy range, but apparently CBS considers that acceptable enough this season (even though last year they were on the verge of cancelling Person of Interest which was pulling the same numbers in that timeslot). Essentially, CBS is just locking in the hour for the rest of the season and it is still wait and see on whether Limitless will get a second year nod. With the ratings in the toilet across all the broadcast networks, it’s hard to gauge what will get a show renewed these days, but this one has done well enough to at least an extension to a full season.
And be sure to keep an eye on this site and the Cancelled Sci Fi Twitter Site for any breaking news over the coming weeks and months because the Fall season is only a month old and there is plenty more drama to come.
One of the reasons CBS has been down on Person of Interest is that it’s produced by an outside studio. As ratings have gone down, networks have been concentrating on vertical integration and being able to monetize their shows in alternative ways. If CBS isn’t going to get any ancillary income from a production, they’re going to deprioritize it accordingly.
Agreed, studio affiliations have become much more important in the current landscape, especially with the ratings continuing to fall across all the channels. Thus the upcoming fifth season for Person of Interest will almost certainly be its last.