'American Gods' Cancelled by Starz
by EG
Neil Gaiman's American Gods won't be coming back for a fourth season on Starz. The fantastical drama enjoyed good ratings early in its run, but the end of its thrid season, it had shed a big portion of its audience. Its ratings were particularly weak among people who were not white men. Starz decided that it wanted to go in a different direction. Read on for details.
American Gods is done at Starz.
The Lionsgate-backed premium cable network has canceled the troubled Neil Gaiman drama after three seasons. Sources say Starz is in talks with producers Fremantle for a potential event series or movie that would wrap up the story based on Gaiman's novel of the same name.
"American Gods will not return for a fourth season. Everyone at Starz is grateful to the dedicated cast and crew, and our partners at Fremantle who brought author and executive producer Neil Gaiman’s ever-relevant story to life that speaks to the cultural climate of our country," Starz said in a statement to The Hollywood Reporter late Monday.
The decision, per sources, was based on the drama's lackluster ratings and comes a week after the show's season three finale. Season three — which returned in January after being off the air for more than a year and a half amid pandemic and creative delays — saw ratings slide 65 percent across multiple platforms when compared with season one.
American Gods earned an early season three renewal — a week after its sophomore debut — as Starz's new exec regime, led by CEO Jeffrey Hirsch, hoped the show might find an audience despite a 45 percent ratings decline between the first and second seasons.
While Hirsch is promoting Starz as a home for premium content that appeals to perse women, American Gods skewed male and white and had the lowest composition of women of any Starz series in the past two years. The show also skewed 13 percentage points lower than Starz's 2020 original series average among Black viewers.
Get the rest of the story at The Hollywood Reporter.
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