Fans were shocked to hear that “NCIS: Hawai’i,” the newest series in CBS‘ “NCIS” franchise, had been canceled after three seasons last week. At a press briefing in Los Angeles, CBS executives said the decision came down to cohesion across the network schedule, as well as a balance of cost and ratings.
“It is incumbent on us to always keep the schedule fresh, keep momentum going. We had to make some really tough choices this year,” CBS Entertainment president Amy Reisenbach told reporters. “Everything came back [from the Hollywood strikes] really strong, but ultimately we have to look at the cohesiveness of the schedule flow. We have to evaluate the financials and the performance overall, and we make tough decisions.”
When asked whether there was a chance of un-cancellation, as happened when CBS reversed its decision to end “S.W.A.T.” on two separate occasions, Reisenbach said no.
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Season 3 of “NCIS: Hawai’i” opened to a strong 5.6 million average viewers on Feb. 12. While the season hasn’t reached that height again, it has managed to stay above 5 million viewers with the exceptions of Episodes 6 and 7, which still hit a solid 4.8 million and 4.98 million viewers, respectively.
CBS president and CEO George Cheeks cited financial considerations again when acknowledging that while some other popular CBS series, like “S.E.A.L. Team” and “Evil,” became Paramount+ originals after no longer fitting into the network’s primetime slate.
“Budgets are challenged, so we don’t have an unlimited amount of slots on Paramount+,” Cheeks said.
“It’s something that we’re always open to, but it’s never a guarantee.”
“NCIS: Hawai’i” followed Jane Tennant (Vanessa Lachey), the first female special agent in charge of NCIS Pearl Harbor, as she and her team balanced duty to family and country while investigating high-stakes crimes involving military personnel, national security and the mysteries of the island itself. Along with Lachey, the cast included Alex Tarrant, Noah Mills, Yasmine Al-Bustami, Jason Antoon, Tori Anderson and Kian Talan. Matt Bosack, Jan Nash, Christopher Silber and Larry Teng served as executive producers on the series, which was produced by CBS Studios.