It was announced last night that executives at FOX have cancelled “Sleepy Hollow” after four seasons, which seems OK for producers of the show because at least it can be picked up for syndication on another network somewhere down the line. It should come as no surprise to fans that the show following FBI agents on the trail of the infamous Headless Horseman and other evil creatures was given the ax. When the horror-drama from show-runner Mark Goffman premiered in 2013, it was well received by TV viewers and averaged about 8,600,000 live viewers per episode. By season three, however, “Sleepy Hollow” had lost nearly half of its viewers and averaged 4,800,000 viewers per episode.
Strong DVR and On Demand numbers were enough to keep “Sleepy Hollow” on air for a forth season, but the live numbers would have to be good… and they weren’t. Now under show-runner Clifton Campbell, the season four premiere averaged only 2,200,000 live viewers and interest dropped from there; with the season/now series finale earning only 1,720,000 viewers. Considering FOX is one of the top networks on television, these numbers just weren’t good enough to warrant another season. Though many horror cans can blame FOX for sticking “Sleepy Hollow” on the dreaded Friday Night line-up.
Something tells me we’re about to see a horror purge at FOX as I have a strong feeling that “The Exorcist” and “Scream Queens” are next on the chopping block.
