Last week, CBS gave full season orders to all five of its new shows. The network execs have now cut the episode order for the veteran Medium series. What’s going on? Is Medium next to be cancelled?

Starring Patrica Arquette, Medium premiered in 2005 on NBC. The series ran on the peacock network for five seasons until it was cancelled. Because CBS produces the drama and it’s a syndication success, the eye network picked it up for season six and paired it with compatible Ghost Whisperer. The latter was cancelled last May after a decline in ratings but Medium survived.

This season, Medium has seen a significant decline in viewership. It’s averaged just a 1.3 rating in the prized 18-49 demographic and 6.2 million viewers. That’s a drop of 35% in the demo when compared to the same number of weeks last fall.

Medium is currently the network’s lowest rated show, by far. Fridays are a tough night to draw an audience but a 1.3 average is still very low. CSI: NY, which airs at 9pm, is averaging a 1.8 rating.

Based on Medium’s poor ratings and the success of the other CBS programming, it’s not surprising that the network has cut the show’s episode order for season seven. The cast and crew will make just 13 episodes instead of the traditional 22 installments. You may remember that CBS did something similar with Numb3rs last season and cancelled it in the spring.

This represents Medium’s smallest season in its history and will almost surely will be the drama’s last. CBS will likely replace it on the schedule by midseason.

On the positive side, if this is indeed Medium’s final season, producers will presumably have enough time to give the series some kind of closure.

What do you think? Is it time for Medium to be cancelled or are you still hoping for season eight?

Image courtesy CBS.