ABC announced Thursday that the upcoming seventh season ofThe Good Doctorwill be its last.
Television is a numbers game, and fewer series orders would yield fewer hits.
Traditional media companies strong balance sheet focus would then likely cut short the runs of some of those hits.
Clockwise from top left: ‘Young Sheldon,’ ‘The Good Doctor,’ ‘S.W.A.T.,’ ‘Station 19’ & ‘SEAL Team’ABC/NBC
Ratings performance used to make or break a linear series.
It will be multi-camera, coming in at a lower cost thanYoung Sheldon, which was single-camera.
The Good Doctors cancellation has been somewhat of a head-scratcher for industry types.
That also gives the impression of the main reason behindStation 19s cancellation.
ForStation 19, there is some additional caveat.
(Franchise veteran Krista Vernoff stepped down as showrunner of both dramas last spring.)
However,Greys Anatomyis one of Disneys biggest series worldwide.
Whats more, ABC now has two such shows, with9-1-1moving from Fox this season.
LikeStation 19,9-1-1also is fully owned by Disney (via 20th Television).
It draws a bit more viewers thanStation 19but its also more expensive.
9-1-1is getting a big ABC marketing push and was givenStation 19s plum Thursday 8 PM slot leading intoGreys Anatomy.
(Station 19will followGreysat 10 PM.)
(Spinoff9-1-1: Lone Starremains on Fox.
Its upcoming fifth season, delayed by the strike,wont air until next fall.)
I hear there was an element of that inThe Residents cancellation after six seasons.
Even highly watched, globally popular series cant carry on indefinitely in todays economic environment.
(Shows budgets increase progressively as they age.)
The numbers have been going down since.
