CBS may not be quite ready to put Code Black in the morgue.
The network canceled the drama in late May, but left it on the air to play out the remainder of its third season. Those summer episodes, however, performed pretty consistently in the ratings, well enough for CBS Entertainment president Kelly Kahl to tell reporters Sunday at the Television Critics Association’s summer press tour that he’s taking a second look at the show.
“We did” have some second thoughts about bringing the series back, Kahl said. “It’s doing incredibly well. It’s a well-done show. We’d like to figure out a way to maybe make it work.”
Code Black‘s in-season episodes in April and May averaged a 0.7 rating among adults 18-49 and 5.38 million viewers the night they aired, improving to 1.2 in the demo and 8.42 million viewers after a week of delayed viewing. Its demo ratings were off by about 30 percent vs. season two.
The summer episodes that aired following Code Black ‘s cancellation didn’t have any appreciable falloff, however, staying at a same-day 0.7 in the 18-49 demo and averaging 5.76 million viewers. The show’s live-plus-3 ratings were on par with the April-May run as well.
That said, a resurrection for Code Black is nowhere near a done deal yet. “The economics were a little challenged on it,” Kahl said of the series, a co-production between CBS’ sister studio and ABC Studios. “But it’s certainly performing well,” he added. “We’re going to take a look.”
