CBS Boss BREAKS SILENCE On The REAL Reason FBI Spinoffs Were Axed, And The Hidden Truth Is More Explosive Than Expected

Most Wanted and International this season both averaged about 6.5 million total viewers (with delayed playback), down just 9% from their previous seasons. Out of the 14 dramas that CBS has aired this TV season, they veritably tie for eighth — outdrawing the renewed Fire Country, NCIS: Origins and NCIS: Sydney, plus the cancelled S.W.A.T. and The Equalizer.

“Obviously we love working with Dick [Wolf] and we’re so excited to be bringing [the new FBI franchise expansion] CIA onto the schedule,” Amy Reisenbach, president of CBS Entertainment, told the press on Wednesday morning, at CBS’ fall schedule reveal event. “But going back to what we just said [about The Equalizer‘s cancellation], we have to be fiscally responsible, and ultimately those deals and the shows just weren’t penciling out for us for an economic perspective.”

Sister site Deadline suggested back in March that the FBI spinoffs may have been victims of a ripple effect caused by “difficult renewal negotiations” that CBS had in recent years with other shows furnished by outside supplier NBCUniversal Television.

“But we want to be in business with Dick [Wolf],” Reisenbach maintained. “We’re excited to launch a new two-hour block next season” with FBI and CIA airing on Monday night, starting at 9/8c.

Earlier during the Wednesday morning press conference, Reisenbach said in discussing The Equalizer‘s similarly sad fate, “It’s never easy to end shows. We had a lot of options this year, and the schedule is really full. So we always have to look at all of our shows, look at the aggregate, the creative, where they are in their life cycle, what the finances look like, what the ratings are…. And we make those tough decisions.”

When CBS canceled “S.W.A.T.” in March, it wasn’t the first time — believe it or not, it was the third. After the show’s first two axings, the Eye net and Sony Pictures TV had been able to do some crafty dealmaking to keep it alive. But not this time.

“It felt very clear from CBS that this was the end,” said Sony Pictures TV Studios prexy Katherine Pope. “It was a difficult decision for them, but it felt very final. So we set out to sell the show elsewhere. We tried really hard, and we felt like we got close at a place or two, but we just couldn’t quite get it over the line.”

The cancellation of FBI: Most Wanted and FBI: International, despite their strong viewership, has left many fans bewildered. After all, both series were steady performers, each averaging around 6.5 million total viewers this season with delayed viewing—numbers that place them solidly in the middle of CBS’s drama lineup. In fact, they outranked shows like the renewed Fire Country, NCIS: Origins, and NCIS: Sydney, not to mention fellow cancellations S.W.A.T. and The Equalizer.

So why pull the plug?

CBS Speaks Out: A Financial Decision, Not a Creative One

At CBS’s fall schedule reveal event, CBS Entertainment president Amy Reisenbach offered some insight into the decision-making process. While acknowledging the popularity of both series and reaffirming the network’s appreciation for working with FBI franchise creator Dick Wolf, she made it clear: this was a business call.