The River: To Be Cancelled or Renewed for Season Two?

This evening, ABC aired the season finale of The River. What’s next? Will the TV show return for a second season or will it be cancelled instead?

For those who aren’t familiar with the ABC series, The River follows the search for beloved TV host and explorer (Bruce Greenwood) some six months after he and his team went missing down the Amazon. His wife, son, their crew and a documentary team go after them on what turns out to be a dangerous rescue mission. The cast includes Joe Anderson, Leslie Hope, Eloise Mumford, Paul Blackthorne, Thomas Kretschmann, Daniel Zacapa, Shaun Parkes, and Paulina Gaitan.

Sadly, it’s almost certain that The River will be cancelled. The thriller series debuted back in the February with a pair of episodes. The first hour attracted a 2.6 in the coveted 18-49 demographic with 8.35 million total viewers. By the second hour, 12% of the audience had bailed and the numbers dropped to a 2.3 rating with 6.83 million.

The ratings have been dropping ever since. Last week’s episode drew just a 1.3 rating in the demo with 4.09 million total viewers. Averaging a 1.67 demo and 4.82 million, The River is the lowest-rated drama on the network and has fallen even lower than sure-to-be-cancelled Pan Am. On our network report card, which compares ABC TV show demo ratings, The River gets a “D.”

With ratings like these, there’s just no chance that the alphabet network will order any more installments.

What do you think? Do you think The River should be cancelled? Are you satisfied with the way the story was left? How would you have ended it?