A & E’s primetime audience has been cut in half since the cancellation of ‘Live PD’

That was an important police show

A&E Network’s primetime audience has been halved since the cable channel canceled “Live PD” last month, giving in to pressure from groups that said the show glorified police. The removal of “Live PD” came days after Paramount Network removed “Cops,” a cancellation that came days after George Floyd was killed by then-Minneapolis Police Office Derek Chauvin.

A&E canceled “Live PD” on June 10. From June 11 to July 19, a time period first examined by the Wall Street Journal, A & E’s primetime audience averaged 498,000 audience members, according to Nielsen. That was a whopping 49% of the same weeks last year.

“When you remove one of the best cable series from the network in the midst of a pandemic and only broadcast primarily non-premiere shows, you’re obviously going to have temporary success in the ratings. Hopefully, but what has always distinguished A&E is the brand’s ability to find new successes and reinvent ourselves, “an A&E spokesperson said in a statement to TheWrap.” We always maintain a strong portfolio, and we will begin to air new releases in August, including the upcoming new series ‘What’s Worth?’ with Jeff Foxworthy and ‘Extreme Unboxing.’ In the meantime, we continue to listen to both community leaders and Live PD fans to find a way to serve both in the future. ”

Also read: Inside A&E’s ‘Live PD’ cancellation, and could the show come back?

Before all of this fell, A&E was one of the few networks that had increased slightly (+ 4%) in primetime audience year after year.

Among adults 25 to 54 years old, the A&E age range bases most of its ad sales on, the average primetime audience every night decreased by 53% from the previous year.

In terms of total day averages, the declines are still quite strong, but are easing due to the inclusion of more hours.

Also read: ‘Live PD’ presenter Dan Abrams laments destruction of custody death: “I wish this had been broadcast”

“Live PD” aired on Friday and Saturday nights for three hours each and averaged around 1.9 million viewers in total.

Despite having passed two-thirds of June without its number 1 show, A&E still finished 12th in the 25-54 show among all the advertised cables last month.

Also removed from the A&E airwaves after the cancellation of the main series, the direct spin-offs of the police programs, “Wanted” and “PD Cam” (“Live Rescue”, the fire and EMT version of the channel “Live PD” is not canceled, it’s just not currently on the air) and the “Live PD” recap and recall series, such as “Rewind” and “Police Patrol”.

Also read: ‘Live PD’ was A & E’s highest rated show before abrupt cancellation

In ongoing conversations with TheWrap, an A&E Network source has maintained the possibility that “Live PD” may return in the future in a renewed way. Such a return would likely require a cultural change and / or the blessing and participation of a civil rights group or groups.

“This is a critical moment in our nation’s history and we have made the decision to cease production on ‘Live PD’,” the network said in a statement on June 10. “Going forward, we will determine if there is a clear path to Tell the Stories of both the community and the police officers whose role it is to serve them. And with that, we will meet with community and civil rights leaders as well as police departments ”

The decision to send the show into retirement came two days after Austin American-Statesman and KVUE-TV revealed that during a filming in 2019, “Live PD” cameras recorded sheriff’s deputies testing Javier Ambler, 40 years, while praying. for his life The Man Died The show then destroyed the footage, which was his long-standing policy.