Vikings season 6 renewal: What is History waiting for?

At the moment, it does feel as though a Vikings season 6 renewal is going to happen over on History. The question, however, is when are they going to officially announce it? Are we nearing a time in which the fine folks at History are going to give the show the green light?

In one way, we recognize that it is highly unusual to even be asking these questions given that season 5 isn’t premiering for more than two months still. Typically, you don’t start getting this impatient for renewal news until you reach a few weeks after a season finale airs! Much of the reason for this said impatience stems from everything that has been leaked so far, including that the show is already casting extras to resume filming for season 6 in Ireland. You don’t do that unless you’re feeling pretty darn confident that your show is coming back.

Here is where things get interesting: We first reported about those extras a good two weeks ago, and since that time there’s still been nary a peep from the folks over at History about the show’s future. If they know that the show is almost certainly coming back, why hold off on the announcement? Well, there are a number of different reasons why they would do that, with one of them being that they want to make a little bit more of a spectacle of the announcement as we get a little bit closer to the season 5 premiere date of the show. That would generate more hype for the new batch of episodes, and given that filming hasn’t started yet, they probably don’t feel anywhere near as much pressure to go ahead and make the news official.

Ratings-wise, it’s clear why History would want to keep Vikings around for a while longer. This is commercially one of the most successful series that they’ve ever had, both in terms of total viewers and the 18-49 demographic. It’s also a little bit of a tentpole show when you think just in terms of how long it’s been around and what it means to the network. Without Vikings, we’re not sure if History would have a roster of original programming that is anywhere near as expansive as it is. This is the show that really opened the door for them.

Now, let’s just hope that Lagertha (pictured above) makes it to a season 6. Given this show’s boldness to take out popular characters without too much regard (and the Seer telling her that one of Ragnar’s sons will eventually kill her), we have a good reason to be nervous about the fate of pretty much everyone.

Do you want to see a Vikings season 6 renewal on History soon, or does that really matter when it comes to your enjoyment of the show? Be sure to sound off in the comments and let us know!

For some other insight…

Head over here if you want to catch on the show with our full review of the season 4 finale from earlier this year! Of course, we’ll be back with more teasers, as we anticipate more being revealed in the weeks to come. (Photo: History.)