With the clock ticking, CBS brass made the decision to only keep only one of its two bubble crime dramas Tuesday.
While hard on loyal viewers, the decision to lose at least one of the two franchise offerings, CSI: NY and Criminal Minds: Suspect Behavior, was expected given the No. 1 network’s lack of holes — as well as its decision to order a fourth drama, Patrick Wilson‘s A Gifted Man, to series midday Monday.
WHAT RETURNS:
CSI: NY
Ratings for the procedural from Anthony Zuiker aren’t what they once were though the brand as a whole is hugely valuable to CBS. Its seventh season, which wrapped Friday, averaged about 10.4 million viewers — a figure that would qualify as a hit at rival networks is widely viewed as mediocre at the Tiffany net. The larger CSI franchise has generated more than $2 billion in profit for its parent company, care of ad revenue, international, DVDs, licensing and merchandise.
WHAT GOES:
Criminal Minds: Suspect Behavior
The spinoff from Ed Bernero, which starred Academy Award winner Forest Whitaker as the chief of the FBI’s Behavioral Analysis Unit, averaged only 9.3 million viewers since its midseason launch. Despite a high-profile — and thus costly — star, the series failed to deliver the buzz or ratings that other offshoots, such as NCIS: Los Angeles, have generated.
The news follows the recent axing of S#!* My Dad Says, The Defenders and Mad Love, which were canceled on Sunday.
