FOX has thrown away the key on Alcatraz. The J.J. Abrams thriller has been cancelled after one season and 13 episodes.
Alcatraz follows the investigations of police detective Rebecca Madsen (Sarah Jones) and Doctor Diego Soto (Jorge Garcia). They work to uncover how 340 inmates and guards disappeared from the infamous prison in 1963 and why they’re now reappearing looking just the same. The show also features the talents of Jonny Coyne, Parminder Nagra, Jason Butler Harner, and Sam Neill.
Fueled by a lot of promotion, the TV series was launched in January and drew good reviews and strong numbers. The two-hour premiere attracted a 3.3 rating in the all-important 18-49 demographic with 10.05 million total viewers. Opposite some tough competition from CBS, Alcatraz was in second place in its timeslots.
In week two, the demo slipped 9% to a still respectable 3.0 rating with 9.03 million. Week three dropped another 7%. That wasn’t positive but not horrible either but the ratings just kept falling.
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In February, NBC launched season two of The Voice and Alcaraz’s ratings took a big dive. They ropped 18% on February 6th and then another 17% on the 13th. The numbers just kept falling after that.
The two-hour season (now series) finale was in fourth place in the timeslots and averaged a disappointing 1.6 demo rating with 4.76 million total viewers.
The first season of Alcatraz ended up averaging a 2.2 demo rating with 6.74 million viewers — and those numbers would have dropped lower had there been more episodes.
On our FOX report card — which ranks the network’s shows based on demo averages — Alcatraz has a “C” and that just wasn’t good enough to get a renewal.
FOX chose to keep Touch instead but the network stays in business with producer J.J. Abrams via the network’s Fringe renewal.
What happened? It would seem that Alcatraz just wasn’t compelling enough to keep viewers returning week after week. Plus, for the first time in quite awhile, all three of the major networks had really strong programming on Monday nights. Two of the competing shows — The Voice and Dancing with the Stars — are reality competitions and many viewers feel compelled to watch them “live” rather than catch them online or via DVR recordings.
All 13 episodes of Alcatraz have aired and the last episode left viewers wondering what would happen next. Unless the producers decide to share what they had in mind for season two, we’ll never know the answers to the show’s mysteries.
What do you think? Why do you think Alcatraz failed to hold onto a bigger audience? Did FOX make a mistake by cancelling the series? What will you miss about it?
Can’t belive they have cancelled Alcatraz!!! It seems you wait an age for a decent programme to wade through all the drivel of reality shows which seem to make up the majority of programming now, then just as you get hooked a show disappears.
Both my wife and i were really enjoying the show, found it interesting and gripping. Like others from the UK we were watching it on Watch.
Bring it back FOX, give the peole what they really want.
I agree with Jen. Why even watch? One of the biggest draws to those like the voice is the audience phone ins to vote. Too bad fox doesn’t have the imagination to create a show like Alcatraz and make it interactive also. I guess we the audience are supposed to say, “O thank for giving 13 weeks.” My plan for future shows is to wait until the second season starts then buy the first to get interested. LOL
This is why I don’t even watch TV anymore!! You can’t get interested in a show when it’s most likely going to get cancelled anyway! This was a GREAT show… why not retire some of the older shows that are holding on by a thread and getting so predictable they’re just boring?? This had great potential, great actors, GREAT everything, and I am very sad to see it go. I am with many of the other commenters… all these networks are doing is losing viewers by getting them interested in shows and then canceling them… I’m back to Netflix or… Read more »
I think they should AT LEAST make one more show to answer all the open questions.
Leaving everyone hanging just s*cks!
So if 93% of the 2597 people who voted say that it should NOT have been cancelled why was it?! How does this rating system work because I feel like its flawed somewhere! I thought that Alcatraz was an amazing show, classic crime but with a twist!
Can we have alcatraz back please i was enjoying it and it was really getting interesting me and my wife watched it every tuesday ritually. It is a brilliant programme with both suspence and keeps u constantly gripped.
Alcatraz is a brilliant show and far more interesting than the crummy Voice or dancing with the Stars . Its so unfair that the decent shows have to suffer whilst the mind numbing celeb/talent shows take over. I’ve had enough of reality shows blocking all channels and would rather we went back to proper stimulating television.
It’s so typical of network TV to cancel the really good shows that make you think, and keep the mindless dribble that is otherwise known as reality TV. I thought Alcatraz was one of the coolest shows I had seen since other network shows to which I had so looked forward (The Event, Flash Forward, and V) were unceremoniously canceled only to be supplanted by boring reality shows. I guess this is why I so rarely watch network TV.
With House now gone, why not give Alcatraz a shot in it’s timeslot? This was one show my wife and I could watch together.
Absolutley disgusted with Fox for not making season 2 of alcatraz it was the best programme on TV. I watched it on the cable channel Watch on tuesday evenings in the Uk, I am gutted as so are my family and friends why did they continue to broadcast it if they were not going to contunue with the next series. We are all sat here wondering what has happened and what a waste of 13 weeks viewing . In future I will not be watching any more series from Fox as they let down the veiwing public
Please please give us another series of Alcatraz. The competing programmes were all just temporary ones, such as The Voice. Why on earth cancel a second series because of something that is temporary? Why not put another Alcatraz series on at a different time and on a different day if you are so concerned about the feeble competition! What a waste of our time to watch something that now has no ending. Does Fox think it will get away with that again? I won’t be watching any more things by Fox in case it happens again. I am disgusted!!
Why cancel such a great show, its left so many questions unanswered why would you stop it just when it was getting interesting. You nuts not to make a second series.
What ?
Cancelled? No season 2?
Why??? Because it isn’t a “reality show” with a bunch of freakshow dysfunctional people?
Wow, you guys at Fox need to buy a clue…. 🙁
BOO!
i dont watch fox. i dont really care too much for the station. but when this show came on, i was amazed tht fox actually made something good. u cant kill a show after 1 season, give it another try. i LOVE this show. the others are right. theres way too much reality crap, we want something to take our minds off of reality.
Please bring it back! I am not a fan of the reality show genre that has taken over the tv channels.