After seven years on the beat, the show’s over for Detective Lily Rush (Kathryn Morris). CBS has officially cancelled Cold Case.
Each episode of Cold Case begins by showing an unsolved crime from the past. The scene then flashes forward to the present day and a group of homicide detectives try to piece together what really happened, using old evidence and new interviews. The series stars Morris, Danny Pino, John Finn, Jeremy Ratchford, Thom Barry, and Tracie Thoms.
Cold Case began in September of 2003 and quickly became a staple of the CBS Sunday night schedule. The crime drama had a successful first season and, by season two, was averaging a 3.5 rating in the 18-49 demographic and 15.1 million viewers. For the next couple seasons, total viewership fell a bit but the all-important demo numbers rose, reaching a 3.8 in season four.
Unfortunately the ratings have come down quite a bit since then. In season five, the show averaged a 2.9 rating and about 12 million viewers. Last season, Cold Case sank lower, to an average of a 2.7 rating and CBS made a choice between renewing ailing Without a Trace or Cold Case. They chose to keep Cold Case but may have regretted it pretty quickly. This season, the show’s ratings dropped even further to a 2.15 rating in the 18-49 demographic and 9.6 million viewers.
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So, while the overall viewership isn’t terrible, the demo numbers are and that’s what brings the ad dollars. CBS often has the most total viewers, but they are often lacking in the 18-49 demo department.
To no surprise, CBS has cancelled Cold Case after seven years on the air. The show won’t be back for season eight next fall. Sadly, the show is not available on DVD. It’s believed that securing the rights for the show’s extensive use of period music is problematic.
What do you think? Are you sorry to see the series go? What could have been done to help the TV show’s ratings?
Image courtesy CBS.
The show had a lot of long time, loyal viewers. The least CBS could have done is an episode or two to wrap everything up. No wonder most of the top rated shows are on cable. The networks aren’t trying to appeal to adults with a brain.
come on i loved cold case i watched it all the time everytime i miss episodes i would cach up with them online , they leave all the boring crap on tv and take away the interesting ones …..!!!!
I just recently ordered the season 1-7 of cold case on dvd, and ordered the season 1-7 of without a trace. on 2 different web cites. at least I can watch the whole season. also Numbers has been shut down 2. so I will order the rest of the seasons when they come available.
Since i cut out my cable i was watching all cold case shows online. You can watch almost all of them on blinlx.com Blinkx has links to sites like megavideo.net where lots of shows that aired previously can be viewed. I was watching medium this way.
Interesting to note cbs allows you to view previous episodes of 48 hours murder mystery, medium and others but the streaming quality of the cbs website is not so great i always end up exiting out because of frustration.
I agree with alot of the comments….Sunday night football hurt the viewing audience and I have strong opinion about the several reality shows. I have been enjoying the reruns on TNT but they are even cutting them out. CBS needs to rethink their line up. Eliminate some of the realty shows… bring back Cold Case and by the way, Without a Trace (thanks to ION for rerunning those).
I am curious, does CBS even listen to their viewers or even read comments the viewers have or just say “oh well we will just get rid of these shows, it doesn’t matter what the viewers say”
It doesnt matter what fans want, it never did.
I go along with JoeCool NO ONE EVER ASKED ME EITHER////THANK GOODNESS I HAVE ALL THE DVD SINCE THE VERY BEGINING THANK GOODNESS…..
Do the producers at CBS actually watch their network? If they did they would know that everytime football was on on Sundays it bounced Cold Case into a late time frame, that is why it lost viewers. People who work Monday morning cannot stay up late to watch their favorite characters. I am sure there are many viewers who do not have DVR capability. It is a shame this show was not on the Monday night line-up, if you are going to get rid of something I think one of the CSI’s could go. The writers of this show were… Read more »
Who decides who is watching what? The freaking electoral college? A lot of shows that get canceled due to low viewers are ones all my friends and family watch. WHO DECIDES WHAT I AM WATCHING? NO ONE EVER ASKED ME?
You know what i just recently completed (april)a nelson rating pole in which they ask you to document the channels and shows you watch. they actually give you 3 dollars to complete the survey. they mail the survey to you along with the 3 dollars enclosed. I bet if you looked online you could participate in the survey. I agree CBS does not seem to care about what their viewers want. I remember reading somewhere that one of the reasons they thought to cancel had to do with the large production cost of the show. so i think its a… Read more »
Another good show has bit the dust. Probably replaced by a stupid reality show.
I think it STINKS! Everytime a good show comes on it gets canceled and some stupid as hell show takes it place. I love this show was always one of my favorite!
Cold Case should have another season, since the season finale kept me wondering about Scotty Valens’ crime he may have commited and Lilly Rush with her niece. Wait, I wouldn’t even know if that was her niece or not. They left lots of stuff out that needed to be known. Plus it is a wonderful show! So hear me out CBS, BRING BACK COLD CASE ! ! ! (by the way, thanks to TNT, who is once again showing reruns of Cold Case!!!)
I enjoyed Cold Case too, and it ticks me off that they have cancelled yet another great show without warning – or none I know of anyway. If they would move it to another night (such as maybe Saturday) or maybe take off some of this “reality” mess (I’m sorry but I think “reality” programming is baloney, and so are most of the comedies – they don’t make them like they used to), and put it on during one of those time slots, it would have higer ratings.
I agree I enjoyed the last episode since they showed rush carrying christine’s baby. but as the sorry cbs does they shut cold case.
Since everyone seems to agree this is a show that should be kept on the air., I am wondering what are everyone’s favorite episodes? I know there were so many great ones.
But what stood out? I thought the last episode of season seven was awesome with Scotti and Lilly rescuing Christine and finding her with a baby. I though for sure a conclusion to that would be really great now there’s NOTHING!
That is so funny mainlining Oxycontin! I forgot that medium is on cbs. I like that also., really medium and cold case were the only shows i watched. I never been one to follow a drama. One thing i liked about cold case was the fact that philly is my home town, so it was nice to see things i am familiar with. The other was the flashbacks with the music of that time period. I think it made the show original not like some hospital or other crime shows that just seem to be copy cats of each other.… Read more »