CBS has renewed Elementary for a seventh season and even though its dwindling ratings would indicate the network would part ways with it, there is more at play here in regards to Elementary frequently making the cut.
Elementary has not been a strong live performer the last couple of seasons but it remains a major profit generator for CBS with lucrative off-network and international deals. Last season, Elementary averaged so-so 7.4 million viewers, 1.2 in 18-49 Live+7 in the Sunday 10 PM time slot. Elementary has off-network and SVOD deals with WGN America, Hulu Plus and broadcast stations that fetch in as much as $3 million total per episode. It is a solid international seller for CBS TV Studios too, in part because of the central character’s global recognition. In May 2016, CBS Corp. CEO Les Moonves used Elementary as an example of a program ownership success story, telling investors that the show had “made approximately an $80 million profit for the corporation” the previous year.
Elementary stars Jonny Lee Miller as Detective Sherlock Holmes and Lucy Liu as Dr. Joan Watson in a modern-day drama about a crime-solving duo that cracks the NYPD’s most impossible cases. Aidan Quinn (Captain Thomas Gregson), Jon Michael Hill (Detective Marcus Bell) and Desmond Harrington (Michael) also star.
