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A year ago, NBC canceled five scripted series in one day (and later a sixth series) to help free up space in its schedule for NBA games. Fox and CBS also canceled six shows last year, including a previously announced series finale, and ABC dropped two shows.
In raw numbers, the 20 shows canceled last year were the most for the big four networks since 2022. In terms of percentage of scripted series canceled or ending (34.5 percent), it was the highest since 2020. It was easy to look at that, coupled with the long-term trend of decline in the overall number of scripted series and larger live sports footprints, and predict the imminent demise of network comedy and drama.
That demise may not be quite so imminent now.
While networks have ordered roughly the same number of new series this year (11) as they did in 2025 (12), the cancellation numbers are down a lot — from 20 to just six, as of press time. (One show, NBC drama for the second year Hunting partyStill Forgotten, is a Fox series Believers (It is not included in the cancellation number.) The result: There will be 55 scripted series on the Big Four in the 2026-27 season — one more series on each network than in 2025-26 — with a slim chance of being renewed for Hunting party The total can reach 56.
The rise may also signal a deeper recognition of the symbiotic relationship between networks and their associated streaming platforms. “I think they both have a very bright future,” Jeff Bader, NBC’s president of program planning and strategy, said in a press session before this week’s prelims. “When it comes to reaching the largest number of people, watching essentially the same thing at the same time, there’s nothing that compares to streaming. We’re very fortunate to have Peacock, because the power of streaming is that it allows our shows to grow over time, which is very important for scripted series. Some of our shows get 50 percent of their audience from Peacock, and more importantly, they’re getting younger.”
Ari Goldman, ABC’s head of scheduling, also noted that creating an on-air schedule and thinking about airing a series’ afterlife now go hand-in-hand.
“We know we’re not going to change the way people want to watch TV, but we can make sure we schedule our content in a smart, consistent way and make sure we’re serving the right audiences at the right times,” said Goldman, the network’s senior vice president of content strategy and scheduling. Hollywood Reporter. “When I think about the linear schedule, we’re obviously concerned with time slots and days of the week, and making sure that we’ve optimized audience flow. But we’re also very conscious of how that content then gets to the streaming service. We don’t want to have a lot of interruptions, and we want to be mindful of the times of the year that might be lighter in terms of launching original series on streaming, where we can bring our existing content.”
Of course, 55 or 56 shows is still a far cry from the 87 scripted series on ABC, CBS, Fox and NBC just five seasons ago. However, the rise is the first since 2024, and the increase that year was at least partly an after-effect of the previous year’s strikes when networks held back some shows initially developed for 2023-2024. It’s impossible, of course, to say whether this year marks another turning point or the beginning of at least a small rebuilding process, but the growing number of shows (as with the number of pilot networks created) is an encouraging sign.
