Freaks and Geeks, Firefly, Veronica Mars, Jericho; anything sounds familiar about these shows? Yep, you guessed it right; all of these shows were canceled. Often, some of our favorite TV shows end up getting canceled, without a reason, leaving us wondering why. So, here are some common reasons why TV shows get canceled.
The show might have not met the expected response from viewers, it wasn’t owned by the same owner as its network company, or the studio won’t reduce the licensing fees. These are only three of the many reasons why TV shows get canceled.
All the reasons your favorite TV show was canceled:
It didn’t get the expected response from viewers:
The primary reason a show is made is to grab the viewer’s attention, keep them hooked to the show while it airs, and keep them anticipatedly waiting for the next episode. This way the showrunners tend to increase their TRPs (target rating points) and make more money. No matter what a director or producer might say, in the end, the goal is getting those TRPs and earning money.
When a show airs and fails to get the expected number of viewers hooked to it, it produces fewer TRPs, hence less money for the showrunners. They don’t get significant profit over their investment, and therefore, the show is canceled.
The show was not owned by the same owner as its network company:
When a different company owns the network company of a show, things get a lot more complicated, and the parent company has all the rights to do what they want with the show. Let’s take the example of New Girl and Mindy: both had low ratings, and neither stood a chance to get a final season as closure. However, New Girl still got a short, final season, whereas Mindy was canceled and taken over by Hulu.
The reason? Even though both shows were aired by Fox, New Girl was owned by Fox Television whereas Mindy was owned by NBC. Even if New Girl produced less money, whatever money was made wound up in the same place, with the Fox production companies. But because Mindy was divided between two organizations, the money had to be split, and each side got a lesser portion from already less total earnings.
The studio won’t reduce the licensing fees:
As we just saw, TV shows aired by a network aren’t necessarily owned by the same network. There is a production company (studio) that makes the show, and they generally take most of the money produced by the show as well.
After producing the show, the studio looks for a networking company that will air the show. The network pays the studio a licensing fee and gets the ad profit the show makes. Since the airing company gets the money if and only if the show has good viewership, and they have to pay a fee to the studio as well, they cancel the show if it doesn’t have a good rating.
To find out some weird reasons TV shows were canceled for, you can watch this video:
Now you know everything a show works for is the TRP, and if they don’t get those, the show gets canceled! No one wants money going out of their pocket if the double isn’t coming back!
