10 TV Shows That Lost MILLIONS Of Viewers (And Why)

A remake of the classic '80s series, V premiered on ABC in November of 2009 to a startling 14 million viewers and an incredible 5.2 rating in the crucial 18-49 demographic. Unfortunately, it wasn't able to maintain that kind of audience as each successive episode was watched by considerably less people, with the finale bringing in just under 6 million. Its second season held steady, averaging 5 million per episode, but that wasn't enough to save it from cancellation.

There's no denying that the loss of almost 10 million viewers in the first season was troubling, especially when you factor in that it was only a 13-episode season, but there are actually a number of reasons as to why that happened. First and foremost, the pilot episode undoubtedly received a massive boost from fans of the original miniseries/series who wanted to check out the remake, while ABC's baffling decision to air the back 9 episodes three months after the first four (all of which achieved above 9 million viewers) clearly set V up for failure.

That said, the show did find a solid devoted fanbase who clearly tuned it weekly, as it rarely fell below 5 million in its second season - figures that would be considered standard today, it's unfortunate that ABC wasn't willing to give it another chance.