(Photo by: Sonja Flemming/CBS)
Hondo and his team won’t be back protecting the public for the 2023-24 TV season. CBS has cancelled SWAT, so there won’t be a seventh season. The sixth season currently airs on Friday nights. *Update below.
A police action drama series, the SWAT TV show stars Shemar Moore, Alex Russell, Jay Harrington, Kenny Johnson, David Lim, and Patrick St. Esprit. The crime thriller centers on Sergeant Daniel “Hondo” Harrelson (Moore), a Los Angeles native and former Marine who’s been tapped to lead a new “last stop” Special Weapons And Tactics unit (S.W.A.T.). The rest of the team includes seasoned David “Deacon” Kay (Harrington), cocky Jim Street (Russell), expert driver Dominique Luca (Johnson), and informant-connected Victor Tan (Lim). Commander Robert Hicks (St. Esprit), a senior LAPD official with the Special Operations Bureau, is responsible for managing all Metro Division S.W.A.T. units.
The sixth season of SWAT averages a 0.42 rating in the 18-49 demographic and 5.07 million viewers in the live+same day ratings (includes all DVR playback through 3:00 AM). Compared to season five, that’s down by 6% in the demo and up by 18% in viewership. In the live+7 day ratings, the drama gets a nearly 30% boost in viewership.
Despite the rise in viewership. CBS still opted to cancel the series. Sony Television, which produces SWAT, and the network couldn’t agree on a licensing fee. According to Deadline, Sony had not increased the licensing fee for the past few years even though costs had increased and the studio’s profits had dropped.
CBS execs let the exclusivity on the series expire and were eventually willing to increase the licensing fee but dropped the episode order. That would have driven the per-episode cost even higher for Sony, and ultimately an agreement couldn’t be reached.
The word is that finding a new home for SWAT is highly unlikely, given the show’s budget.
“For six seasons, the amazing talents of the SWAT cast led by Shemar Moore, the writers, producers and crew guided by executive producers Shawn Ryan, Andy Dettman, and Aaron Rahsaan Thomas brought us compelling, action packed episodes that also addressed important social issues and contributed to the success of our primetime line-up,” said Amy Reisenbach, president of CBS Entertainment. “We sincerely thank them for their incredible work and passion and also thank our dedicated fans who tuned in every week.”
After tonight’s episode, there are two more episodes to air. The de facto series finale, titled “Legacy,” will be released on May 19th.
What do you think? Have you kept up with the SWAT TV show? Are you disappointed this CBS series wasn’t renewed for a seventh season? Are you surprised that it was cancelled?
Update: The CBS series has been revived and renewed for a seventh and final season.
Carmen Gorgoni
That is one of the better shows on TV sorry I hope that Peacock on Paramont or who takes over
Why SWAT? Cancel Young Sheldon or So Help Me Todd.
Really sad to hear this!!! They have all these ridiculous shows called “reality” shows and they just keep coming back season after season. Hopefully they will get picked up by another network. I haven’t missed a show yet.
I enjoyed the show. Great cast and story. I worked on the original SWAT series back in the 70s.
Leave it to the Morons at Sony & CBS to find a way to have a decent show canceled because the FEES couldn’t be agreed upon, and who gets the SHAFT ??? WE THE VIEWERS.. THANKS GUYS FOR ANOTHER BLUNDER !!!
I agree with Mrs McNeil. Very disappointed in CBS the past couple of years. They messed with Seal Team and now nothing good is on Wednesday night. They got rid of Magnum P.I. which thankfully got picked up by NBC. They also threw in the towel on Hawaii Five-O instead of exploring other options like crating a new character to lead the team when Alex wanted to leave the show. The remaining characters where still beloved. Look at all the cast member changes on NCIS and its still going strong with only 2 originals. CANCEL True Lies and Fire Country!!!!… Read more »
True Lies needs to go. I think it is a failure. I like fire country. I want SWAT back.
Obviously the Execs don’t know what they’re doing! This is a great show and brings great enjoyment to those of us tuning in. Regarding the expense mentioned, why don’t the Execs take a cut in pay! It’s apparent they’re not good at their jobs.
I am so disappointed with CBS cancelling SWAT. I only watch 3 TV shows on CBS and SWAT is one of them. I watched it from the beginning. I hope another station like ABC or NBC picks the show up. It’s not fair this show has been cancelled. I pray that CBS changes it’s mind and overturns it’s decision.
I think ABC, NBC, Fox, TNT or The CW will pick SWAT up for a seventh season.
We are so disappointed to hear this news. Please keep it on. We always watch it and even watch the re-runs on Channel 4. Please don’t cancel it–or maybe we’ll have to boycot Channel 5 altogether and not watch anything on Channel 5. They did the same thing to another show we watch–Magnum PI. Luckily another channel picked that up.
Very disappointed !!!
No!!! I absolutely love this show and the cast. I know it’s all about the money and it’s expensive to produce each show but it’s the best show on CBS besides Blue Bloods. I’m absolutely disappointed.
So disappointed in CBS!!! Loved the Show SWAT I haven’t missed one episode I don’t understand why they keep getting rid of all the good shows and putting new shows on that are ridiculous and stupid.
Totally AGREE!!!!!
I agree Tamra… SWAT is a great show hub & I look forward to watching every week… love ALL the characters… Hope & wish for someone to pick it up! 🙂
Swat is an awesome show please keep it going
CBS executives wouldn’t know a good show if it came up and bit them. SWAT is a fantastic show and needs to stay. Sure maybe the viewership numbers may have dropped a little, but I guarantee the drop in numbers is due to the amount of reruns CBS is known to run. And I’m sure that they looked at the static numbers of viewership but remember statics can be skewed to create the numbers there looking for.
stop sending all the shows over to the other channels like disney paramount etc… soon we will be paying for cable & have no good shows left to watch 🙁