If ABC cancels The River (which they almost surely will), it seems that the TV series might still have a chance for a second season.
Netflix and ABC Studios (which co-produces The River) have had early discussions about possibly producing some TV shows for Netflix and their streaming service. The River apparently came up as a contender as part of those discussions.
Once known only for their DVD rental by mail services, Netflix has been offering streaming services for more than five years and TV shows have become very popular with subscribers. We often hear from readers who’ve only recently discovered serial TV series like The Event, FlashForward and The Gates; shows that were broadcast and cancelled more than a year ago.
Netflix has made a deal to produce a fourth season of cult-favorite Arrested Development some six years after it was cancelled by FOX. The company has recently discussed the possibility of producing a second season of another canned FOX show, Terra Nova.
While The River has amassed a devoted following, the ratings for the ABC series have been poor almost from the start. It premiered on ABC with a mediocre 2.6 rating in the 18-49 demographic and 8.35 million total viewers. Those numbers quickly dwindled downward and the season (likely seres) finale came in at a 1.4 in the demo with 3.99 million.
Deadline sites that The River picks up a healthy percentage of viewers from DVR viewing but that’s essentially true of any show. If a show has relatively low viewership, picking up 36% (3.99 million to 5.43 million) still doesn’t amount to much by network standards.
Could that size of an audience be enough for Netflix to justify the cost of producing a second season of The River? We’ll have to wait and see but at least there’s a bit more hope for fans than there was before.
What do you think? Is there a realistic chance that Netflix or someone else will save The River? Is it worth being saved?
Image courtesy ABC.
If ABC decides to cancel the series it should still produce it. I’m sure the BBC or other colonial television network would pick it up. But let’s look at the track history of ABC which produced Scrubs for NBC which was a runaway hit and made millions of dollars for NBC and only returned to ABC when the series was in it’s decline. Television execs aren’t in it for the long haul and see the big picture they only see the ratings and the net sales revenue for broadcast. A serious case in point was NBC’s cancellation of the Star… Read more »
save the river, great season finale cliff hanger
please bring the river back
I’m tired of all these idiots from ABC and NBC cancelling good shows. They need to fire all of those retarded executives and put in a panel of people who ACTUALLY ******* KNOW WHAT THEY ARE DOING to run the show from now on.
I say start a petition to FORCE THEM!!1
The River was such a good show! I couldn’t wait to watch episode after episode. It wa literally the highlight of my week, and I was looking forward to watching the next season. When I googled when the next season was gonna be, this came up! I’m heartbroken! Please keep The Rover going!! Don’t leave the world hanging!!!!!
I loved The River! If we didn’t get to watch it we recorded it……same thing with Terra Nova!!!! What’s up with ABC canceling do many good shows. This is why they can’t get the viewers, the seems to start a show but never go any further with it. Makes you not even wanna start watching a new show on their network.
Please do not cancel The River. It is so good. It just wasn’t advertised the right way. Please at least Netflix pick it up.
Please bring back the river. Show is awesome. I was glued to tv every second of every episode. Watched 4 episodes by myself at 1am in the dark. Found myself getting chills and goosebumps multiple tines. Awesome show
Oh please bring back The River. My friend and I were glued to our TV set and can’t wait for more. We’d meet and discuss it the next morning. It is too good to cancel!!
Bring back the river. It ended with to much going on, and wanting for more to come. Please bring back the River for next season.
I would love to see the second season’s of the The Gates and The River!!!!
save the river!! love that show!
I love the river and would love to see a second season. Also love to see the gates back on, been watching that on netflix. Love to see terra nova and gifted man too
WOULD LOVE TO SEE THE GATES BACK ON AGAIN!!!!!!!
OH PLEASE! I LOVE THE RIVER it should totally get a chance for a second season!