Is ‘Madam Secretary’ episode 14 new tonight on CBS?

If you enjoy “Madam Secretary” on CBS, let’s just hope that you are the patient type.

So far this season, the Tea Leoni series has given you an embarrassment of riches. After all, there are not many other series on the schedule right now that have aired 13 episodes in the same span of time that this series has. It’s great news for the network, since that means many opportunities to get their hooks into some loyal viewers. It is better to get your fan following locked down early, mostly because that will help you become even more of a success after the fact … provided they stick with you.

Here is the problem: CBS is making you wait a long time to see what happens from here. “Whisper of the Ax” is the next new episode, but it is not airing tonight. As a matter of fact, it is not airing at all until Sunday, March 1 at 8:00 p.m. Eastern time.

Why in the world is there such a long delay? Look at it this way – Tonight is the AFC Championship Game, next week is the SAG Awards, February 1 is the Super Bowl, February 8 is the Grammys, and the Oscars are on February 22. There is one week in February 15 that you could in theory air a new episode without big competition (but it’s also Valentines weekend, so many may be out and about celebrating love). At that point, you are better off just waiting until March. That way, you can air all of the final episodes in consecutive weeks, and then have the finale in late April or early May. The earliest the finale could be is Sunday, April 29 if there is no hiatus at any point.