Posted in: Movies, TV | Tagged: entertainment, Outsiders, Peter Kern, sony, television, Tribune, wgn

WGN Cancels Their Most Watched Scripted Original Series

In a surprise move, WGN has announced it's cancelling it's highest rated scripted original series, Outsiders. The story of a family of outsiders living off the grid in the hills of Appalachia will air its second season finale (now series finale) on April 25 at 10 p.m. Why would the next work ax it's highest rated show? Tribune Media president and CEO Peter Kern told THR:

After three years of investing in marquee, brand-defining dramas, WGN America has successfully expanded its audience, its reach and its presence in the minds of viewers. In our next phase, we intend to expand our original and unique content to continue growing our relevance and appeal to the widest possible audience. To achieve this, we will be reallocating our resources to a more diverse programming strategy and to new structures, enabling us to expand both the quantity and breadth of content aired by WGN America. This move is designed to deliver even more value to our advertising and distribution partners. To free up the resources to reach this goal, we will unfortunately not be renewing Outsiders. We are grateful to our production partners at Sony Pictures Television and the terrifically talented people who made the show possible.

Outsiders joins two other WGN scripted original series to be cancelled, Salem and Manhattan. There are rumors that the company is stripping away their more costly series to prepare for a potential sale, this cancellation will only fuel those rumors. Something to keep an eye on as one of the series in the works for the network is the DC Comics adaptation of Scalped.

Sony TV will likely try and shop the show around, but the cancellation comes so late in the season that the window to find a new home is very small.

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