'The Affair' Gets Fourth-Season Renewal

Showtime confirmed this week that The Affair, once one of its hottest series, will move forward into a fourth season. The announcement isn't too surprising, even though the series has seen a dip in ratings this season and diminished critical acclaim. There may not have been any Golden Globe nominations this year, but a new season should be reward enough for fans.

At the peak of its ratings in seasons one and two, The Affair drew close to a million viewers for some episodes on the day they first aired. So far this season, ratings have been much more modest, averaging about 620,000 viewers per episode. In fact, the most recently aired episode, which aired on New Year's Day, drew a series-low 480,000 viewers.

By Showtime standards, though, The Affair is doing well enough to merit a fourth season. It remains in the top half of all the network's original series in terms of ratings, and its ratings in the 18-49 group are nearly double those of the low-rated Dice, which also got a renewal for a 2017 season. In terms of total viewership, The Affair outperformed Dice by a factor of three.