Syfy’s supernatural fantasy The Magicians, based on the Lev Grossman book of the same name, is currently airing its fifth season and has seen its ratings decline notably this year. It is currently averaging only a 0.11 rating based on same-day viewing for the 18-49 demographic which is down 40% from last year and well below the numbers it was seeing in its first three seasons. The linear ratings are down across all television networks, but this show has slipped to levels that have seen other Syfy entries cancelled, and the fact that this is certainly a more expensive entry for the network does not help its standing. I currently have the show On the Bubble, and as the season progresses, its status continues to look grim.
The Magicians was actually the highest-rated scripted series on Syfy from its second through third seasons, and second highest-rated in its first year. But the viewership at the network has been dwindling and their scripted output is at a low point, so perhaps viewers have lost interest in what Syfy has to offer. It probably does not help that the show killed off a popular main character at the end of last season which may have led to a backlash and the drop in viewership.
The Magicians is also headed up against a five-season wall that the network appears to have which puts its fate in further doubt. No scripted series has ever gone beyond five seasons on Syfy or the Sci Fi Channel (Stargate: SG-1 went ten total, but only the final five seasons were on Sci Fi Channel). TV series often have escalation clauses that kick in around the fifth season where the cast and crew see a raise in pay. This may be the point at which Syfy no longer considers the show a profitable venture, resulting in a cancellation (as we saw with Eureka and Warehouse 13) or a final season announcement (like Killjoys and Van Helsing) at the five-year mark.
On the plus side for The Magicians is the fact that NBCUniversal (Syfy’s parent company) has an ownership stake in the show. The studio will therefore retain some of the future profits which gives it some incentive to keep the show going. That did not work for Eureka (also owned by NBCUniversal), though, and The Magicians is still a couple of seasons away from reaching the episode count preferred for an encore run in syndication (where shows really turn a profit). It still has value to the streaming services (prior seasons are currently available on Netflix), but that may not be enough to convince Syfy to keep it going for a sixth year.
At this point, all indications are that The Magicians will be ending with its current season. The network could give it a greenlight for a sixth and final year, but that would be unprecedented because it would break the five-season wall. Fans may still be able to convince the network to keep the show going, though. A strong Call to Action on the social networks could sway Syfy execs into keeping the show around for another year. However, fans campaigns have done little to influence the network in the past. The other option would be to lobby Netflix or one of the other streaming services to pick the show up for another season. That worked for The Expanse, but NBCUniversal did not have an ownership stake in that one.
Syfy appears to be moving away from scripted programming as The Magicians is only the second original the network has aired in the 2019-20 season with only one more currently on the schedule (Vagrant Queen which debuts March 27th). But fans may still be able to stump for the show and help get it to a sixth season. If that will be on Syfy or if it will happen at all remains to be seen.
Are you still watching The Magicians and will you be lobbying for it on the social networks? Chime in with your comments below.
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They literally killed off the heart of their show. The backlash has been immense but also the current season is nowhere near as good because of it. I imagine a lot of former viewers are hoping the show gets cancelled. They generated a lot of ill will, not just from the decision but from their execution of it. If the show gets a season six I’ll be surprised – not just from the low ratings but from the fact that we’re highly unlikely to get the kind of fan campaign that could save it. The moral of the story is: there’s nothing cool and edgy about killing off your show’s beloved, tortured main character – especially when that character was battling depression and suicidal thoughts and you blatantly used him to queer bait your audience. There’s an object lesson there, not that I suspect anyone will learn from it.
Love the magicians at least end it right if u do unlike deadly class