Should Outlander remain in the fall for season 4 and beyond?

This September, Outlander season 3 will be premiering in the fall on Starz, and this marks the first time that the series premieres there. Previously, this was a show suited for the spring and the summer, which carried with it a unique set of challenges all its own. The good thing was that by the end of the season, there often was less in the way of network competition. On the flip side, at the start of the season there was a ton of competition via other networks / shows that it was a challenge for the show to have to deal with it all. (Sure, we know that season 2 aired on Saturdays, but there was a lot of DVR programming many casual viewers spent the weekend trying to catch up on.)

So what are the advantages to the fall? The biggest one is potentially a larger pool of viewers, and not just because of the Sunday move. If you look at the ratings trajectory for the vast majority of network shows, you will see traditionally that they perform far better in the fall than they do in the spring. The reasons for that are twofold:

Climate – As the weather gets progressively colder outside, there is effectively less of an interest in going out and doing other things. It’s also coming off of the summer, and after many months doing things outdoors many viewers are primed for a change.

No burnout – By the time April or May rolls around, there is a natural tendency for casual viewers to take programming for granted when they’ve had a flurry of options for much of the season. After the summer, there is that eagerness from a programming standpoint to go along with that culture change due to the climate.

Aren’t diehard fans going to watch at any point regardless?

This is one of the biggest questions we often get anytime there’s a post touching on such issues as ratings, and with that it’s often fair to point out that the vast majority of any viewership — even for a show like Outlander that has arguably the most passionate following of any on television — does not regularly engage about it on social media. These are fans who often need a little more encouragement to remember to watch live, as opposed to just binge-watching after the fact.

You can argue that with Starz, watching live doesn’t quite matter so much as the network just gaining more subscribers when the show comes on. Nonetheless, the optics are such that every network wants to boost of being the most popular in live+same day viewing. It’s a beacon for more publicity, and it can even help with such things as awards-show campaigns.

So is fall the best time for Outlander to premiere?

For this year, and possibly in the years to come, the answer to this seems to be “yes.” While there may be competition from NFL football and some network shows on Sunday night, it’s all mostly counter-programming to a show of this variety. There’s also no Game of Thrones and, for the start of the season at least, no The Walking Dead. The Diana Gabaldon adaption can exist on its own island for a stretch of time without having to deal with the nonsense from other competitors, and it can be on at a time when casual viewers are eager.

In a vacuum where new seasons of the show are ready annually, the fall could be the way to go — despite some initial hesitation from us and others on the subject. The biggest issue standing in the way of this happening is that with the show’s production cycle being so lengthy, it’s hard to predict that a new season of the show will be ready every year in time for September. If that isn’t the case for season 4, for example, it’s hard to tell Outlander viewers to wait for two years until fall 2019 just because it’s a good time to launch the show. There is only so much Droughtlander that anyone can bear!

Do you think that Outlander should remain in the fall for both season 4 and the remainder of the series? Share in the comments below!

Meanwhile, head over to the link here in the event you do want to get some additional news right now when it comes to the show. (Photo: Starz.)