Cancellation Watch Breaking News: Syfy Cancels Krypton after Two Seasons, Will Not Move Forward with Lobo Spin-Off

Coming as no surprise, Syfy announced today that its Superman prequel series Krypton has been cancelled after two seasons. That series debuted last year with a 0.42 rating based on same day viewing for the 18-49 demographic, strong ratings for a cable series and some of the best numbers the network has seen in a while. But the viewership slipped pretty quickly after the show’s premiere, and it ratings had dropped 67% by season end. It still had a respectable 0.24 average, though, and Syfy renewed it for a second season. When the show returned in June of this year, it posted only a 0.11 rating for its season premiere, down by 74% from its debut and over half from its first year average (click on the chart below for a larger view of the ratings data). I started the show out On the Bubble when it returned because its numbers were lower than other shows that had previously been cancelled by the network such as The Expanse, Dark Matter, and Z Nation. I did think that there might be some hope for the show since it was a high-profile series and perhaps Warner Bros would work out a deal to keep it airing. But as the season progressed and the numbers slipped lower–as low as a 0.07 score–I figured its chances were very slim at best.

Syfy works with a very old-school model in gauging the success of its shows, particularly those in which it does not have an ownership stake. The main way the network makes money on these shows is from the advertising during the live broadcasts and the amount it can charge is dictated largely by the same day ratings numbers. It does pull in some additional money from the adds for digital viewing, but apparently not enough to make a difference. With Krypton‘s Nielsen reported numbers down in the ratings scraps range, the network likely could not bring in enough in advertising revenue to justify keeping what is likely a an expensive series to produce on its schedule. There is some hope that the show could still be saved, though. It is owned by Warner Bros and the first season is already available for streaming on the DC Universe service. If fans were to make a Call to Action similar to what we saw with The Expanse (cancelled by Syfy but saved by Amazon), perhaps DCU would pick it up. The show could also land at The CW and get merged into the Arrow-verse or make a shift to the upcoming HBO Max mega-service that is owned by Warner Media. (An online petition has been started at this link.)

In addition to the Krypton cancellation, Syfy announced that they will not move forward with the previously planned spin-off that would have been centered around the intergalactic bounty hunter Lobo. That character is a fan-favorite from the comics and was introduced in the second season of Krypton. His presence did little to help with the ratings, though, so apparently the network saw no reason to keep the spin-off series in its development pipeline. But perhaps that show could still land at one of the Warner Bros venues.

Krypton takes place two generations before the destruction of that planet and focuses on Superman’s grandfather who is trying to save his world and his people. It stars Cameron Cuffe, Georgina Campbell, Shaun Sipos, Elliot Cowan, and Emmett J. Scanlan and ran for two seasons totaling twenty episodes.

Expect more announcements in the coming weeks now that we have reached the end of the Summer season. Be sure to stay tuned to this site for breaking news and updates. Also, head over to Twitter to join the #CancelledSciFiArmy and help bolster our ranks as we fight to save our sci fi and fantasy shows.