ABC boss on Designated Survivor season 2 cancellation, showrunner swaps

Designated Survivor was one of the more notable cancellations for a number of different reasons last week, with one of the biggest ones being the fact that it stars Kiefer Sutherland and is very much popular all over the world.

So what went into the cancellation? Speaking via Deadline, ABC Entertainment head Channing Dungey made it clear that the live ratings were one challenge, but far from the only one when it came to bringing the show back:

“That was a hard one for us … It did well in delayed viewing but its Live+Same Day delivery in the 10 PM hour had become challenging.

“Creatively, the show had a lot of behind-the-scenes churn in terms of the number of showrunners. We were less confident about the creative path forward than the other shows we brought back.”

Unfortunately, for one reason or another Designated Survivor just couldn’t figure out a way to keep everything consistent behind the scenes. Having multiple showrunners over the years is something that can be worked out, but it’s a little bit difficult in this case. Just think in terms of the massive amount of turnover that we’ve seen her over a certain period of time.

Related – Be sure to check out some more news when it comes to the ABC show

As for whether or not the show is revived, we do think that is highly unlikely in between the show’s cost and also the sheer number of options that it would have given the recent ratings. It also hasn’t mustered the extreme social-media push that we’ve had a chance to see as of late from some other series like Brooklyn Nine-Nine, which has already been revived over at NBC, and also a show in Lucifer that is looking for a home after Fox chose to cancel it earlier this month.

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