Why was SWAT canceled by CBS? (It wasn’t because of ratings)

Update: May 8, 2023 – TVLine reports CBS has reversed their decision and the series will move forward with a seventh and final season that’ll consist of 13 episodes.

Fans of SWAT, a procedural drama that aired on CBS, were blindsided on Friday, May 5 when news broke that the long running program had been canceled. The cancellation also came as a shock to its lead, Shemar Moore, who stated in an Instagram video that they’d done everything that was asked of them by the network. You can watch the full video here, below is a small excerpt.

"We got canceled, S.W.A.T., S.W.A.T. got canceled. It makes no sense. Look up the articles, read the articles. We are the best shows on Friday night at 8 for CBS. The last two years we have been killing it, us and the fire show…the fire show [Fire Country] that comes on right after us, and respect to those brothers and sisters. We’ve done nothing wrong. We did everything that was asked for."

What Moore is referring to is viewership. SWAT has consistently performed well in the day and time slot it’d been moved to in its fifth season. Deadline reports “it has been a rare TV series to rise in linear viewership year-to-year by double digits following its move to Fridays, where the drama has flourished.”

So, if ratings weren’t the issue and the series is considered to be one of the most watched scripted programs on television, why was the show canceled? Here’s what we know!

Why was SWAT canceled?

According to Deadline’s reporting, the cancellation boils down to the lack of a financial agreement between CBS and the lead studio on the title Sony TV. SWAT has been renewed the past few years without an increased licensing fee which has “put more and more pressure on the budget and further squeezed the show’s profit margins.” Sony TV was not willing to go through another renewal at the licensing fee that has not changed in years.

During negotiations, CBS did offer to increase the fee, however, in return they wanted to cut the season episode order which would have strained the per-episode budget. The network had also let its exclusive window on the show expire, but Deadline hears the likelihood of SWAT being picked up elsewhere is low since Sony TV doesn’t have a sister network.

The hope, as Moore pointed out in his video (as reported by TVLine), was that the series would get picked up for at least a seventh season to say farewell properly instead of having an abrupt ending. We’ll keep you posted on whether SWAT will get a seventh (and likely final season) on another network or platform.

The season 6 finale, which is now being considered a series finale, will air May 19. For more shows that have been canceled this year, click here. Stay tuned to Hidden Remote.