The canceled ‘Nashville’ may have just found a new home
ABC
Hayden Panettiere as Juliette Barnes, left, and onnie Britton as Rayna James on “Nashville.”
Former ABC series “Nashville” may have found a new home.
Lionsgate TV, the production studio behind the soapy country-music drama, is in talks with CMT for a pickup of season five, according to Deadline.
The studio hadn’t given up on the show. After ABC canceled it, Lionsgate television group chairman Kevin Beggs wrote to employees, “We’re looking for a new home. We never give up on a great show.”
Why is the studio trying so hard to bring back “Nashville”? With four seasons on ABC, a fifth season would make it ripe for syndication. That means years of profits for the studio and residual checks for its cast.
CMT had no comment. Representatives for Lionsgate TV didn’t immediately respond to Business Insider’s request for comment.
Despite its cult audience, “Nashville” had long been on the bubble for cancellation at ABC. Season four averaged just 4.2 million viewers and did poorly in the demographic most important to advertisers, viewers between the ages of 18 and 49 years old.
The series starred Connie Britton as Rayna James, an aging country-music star faced with the competition of up-and-coming singer Juliette Barnes (Hayden Panettiere).
If Lionsgate TV pulls this off, it wouldn’t be the first series to jump networks after being canceled this year. CBS canceled “Supergirl,” because it felt its ratings didn’t justify the cost of making the series. It got another shot at CBS’s sister network, The CW.
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