The Expanse May Find Another Network
News has been rather slow so far leading up to next week’s Upfronts, but a big announcement came late last night. Syfy has announced that they will be dropping their acclaimed series The Expanse after its current season ends. Apparently the deal with Alcon Television Group, which funds and produces the show, only gives Syfy first-run linear rights to the show in the U.S., so the network has to make its money on advertising during the live broadcasts (digital viewing must be included as well because Syfy has the eps on its website with commercials). It has to be difficult for any network to turn a profit on a show that way and Syfy’s numbers have been way down the past couple of years. So far this year, The Expanse has only averaged a 0.18 rating based on same day viewing in the 18-49 demographic. That’s better than several other shows airing on the network, but not enough for The Expanse to be profitable with its current deal. Why on Earth they made this sort of deal on a show in the Peak TV environment, I have no idea. But the cancellation could very well be the death knell for Syfy among the sci fi community which has largely rejected the network’s programming of late.
The good news is that Alcon will be shopping the show around to other venues. The bad news is that few shows that have been shopped around in the last year or so have found interested buyers. But then The Expanse has received plenty of praise over its three seasons, so perhaps it will be more attractive. Netflix has the global rights to the show (and they were streaming prior seasons in the U.S. at one point), so they may entertain the idea of continuing it for another season or so. And this one would be good fit for that streaming service since it has decided to push more heavily on sci fi originals. This definitely demands a Call to Action from fans to show support on the social networks to help Alcon generate interest from other networks and/or the streaming service. This show may still have a chance of continuing for more seasons, and fan support will be crucial to that.
The Last Man on Earth Has Met Its Last Day
FOX announced yesterday that its post-apocalyptic comedy The Last Man on Earth has been cancelled after four seasons. The news does not come as a huge surprise considering the network already indicated the show was On the Bubble. But it does seem like an odd moved to cut the show short when it is so close to a syndication friendly count of episodes. At this point, the show has amassed 67 eps. Another 18-episode season (its typical order) would get it to 85, close enough to the threshold that the syndication market prefers for an encore run. Considering that the network owns the show, it sure seems like it makes financial sense to keep it around for one more year in order to reap the long-term profits from the syndication sale (and also to not leave the show ending on a cliffhanger). Maybe the cast had a fifth season clause that boosted their salaries which would make it expensive to bring it back, but the network would make that up in the long run. And don’t expect another network to pick this one up because FOX owns it which would make it difficult for anybody else to make money off of it. So for now, it appears that fans will have to come up with their own resolution to that cliffhanger ending.
Expect more announcements today and through the weekend as we approach the Upfronts, and shows like Lucifer, Gotham, and Timeless could go right to the wire before we hear word on their fates. Be sure to follow our Cancellation Watch Tracker as well as the Cancelled Sci Fi Twitter Site for breaking news as the season winds down.
