Cancellation (television)

In broadcasting, cancellation refers to when a radio or television program is abruptly ended by orders of the network or syndicator that distributes the show.

Programs are typically canceled for financial reasons; low viewership or listenership will lead to lower advertising or subscription revenue, prompting networks to replace it with another show with the potential to turn a larger profit. Likewise, a disproportionately high budget is potentially undesirable (this is somewhat complicated, as prominent programs have effects on the viewership of programs that air before and after; an expensive program may be worth the cost—a loss leader—if it increases the ratings of other shows on the network, while a profitable low-budget show may still be canceled if it lowers the ratings of the surrounding programs). Other potential reasons for canceling television programs include unfavorable critical reviews, controversies involving the program's cast, conflicts among the show's staff members or to make room for new programming.

Shows whose runs end due to a mutual creative decision by its creators, producers, cast, and the network it airs on (such as ''Seinfeld'', ''The Sopranos'', or ''The Cosby Show'') are not considered to be "canceled" but rather "concluded" or "ended", with a special last episode called its series finale. Even so, programs that end their runs in this manner are sometimes incorrectly stated to have been canceled, even if the program was renewed for a final season (such as with ''American Idol'', by which the term was incorrectly applied upon the announcement of Fox, Fremantle Media and 19 Entertainment's decision to renew the show for a 15th and final season in May 2015 to air in 2016); shows that are canceled traditionally end their runs during the television season in which the program airs first-run episodes at the time, either effective immediately after the announcement is made by the network or until all remaining episodes are broadcast.

The Friday night death slot is a perceived graveyard slot in American television, referring to the idea that a television program in the United States scheduled on Friday evenings is highly likely to be canceled.

Overview

Commercial television and radio is supported by advertising. Subscription outlets, including cable and satellite television and satellite radio, have the additional revenue stream of subscriber fees (broadcast stations in some areas may also have retransmission consent privileges, but this is not universal; Canada, for instance, does not allow it). Viewing figures are collected by audience measurement ratings agencies (such as Nielsen in the United States), and the programs with the highest viewing figures command a higher advertising fee for the network. As such, shows with a low viewership are generally not as profitable. For most United States networks, the number of viewers within the 18–49 age range is more important than the total number of viewers. According to ''Advertising Age'', during the 2007–08 season, ''Grey's Anatomy'' was able to charge $419,000 per television commercial, compared to only $248,000 for a commercial during '' CSI'', despite CSI having almost five million more viewers on average. Due to its strength in young demographics, ''Friends'' was able to charge almost three times as much for a commercial as ''Murder, She Wrote'', even though the two television series had similar total viewer numbers during the seasons they were on the air together. (A slight exception to this is CBS, whose self-stated target audience is persons 25 to 54 years old; because of this, CBS programs tend to favor slightly older audiences than their broadcast rivals.)

Other factors are considered as well, such as the cost to produce the show. For example, most game shows cost less money to produce than a drama series, so even if the game show has lesser ratings it may survive cancellation because of the higher profit margin. Game shows and self-contained reality shows, which can be produced on short order with very little preparation compared to scripted series and annual contests, may not be canceled in the same way, but merely have the network cease ordering episodes and end up in limbo (except for those that have high production costs); in turn, these types of shows are also easily brought back if a network needs to produce filler programming quickly (as was the case with '' Are You Smarter than a 5th Grader?'', which was renewed more than three years after it had produced its last episode because of a programming shortage on Fox). Whether the show is produced by the network or an outside company can also factor into a show's future; networks, especially in the 21st century, tend to prefer shows that are produced in-house, as they can take advantage of vertical integration and, in addition to making money from the first run of the show on the network, continue to profit from syndicating the reruns. Thus, if two shows have similar ratings and expenses but one is produced by the network while the other is held by an outside company, the outsider program is more likely to be canceled. This was not an issue in the late 20th century, when Financial Interest and Syndication Rules prohibited American networks from owning syndicators.

Very rarely are television programs cancelled for reasons other than ratings or profitability. Notable cases are ''Turn-On'' and ''Australia's Naughtiest Home Videos'', which were canceled after viewer and station outrage (in the latter case, it managed to be cancelled despite being a special, being pulled off-air midway through its lone airing by the network's owner); ''Bridget Loves Bernie'', which was forced off the air in 1973 despite high ratings because of threats of violence from Jewish radicals; '' Flatbush'', an adaptation of the film ''The Lords of Flatbush'' that was cancelled after three episodes due to its offensive ethnic portrayals and the resulting objections from Howard Golden, the Kings County executive; '' Home Run Derby'', which was canceled in 1960 due to the host's death (Major League Baseball would make the concept an official annual event