‘The Vampire Diaries’ Night Change Sparks Cancellation Worries For Fans

The night change for The Vampire Diaries and The Originals due next month has sparked worries for fans that the shows will be cancelled. Moving to a Friday night is often a death sentence for shows.

Many TV shows go through ups and downs in ratings. However, The Vampire Diaries‘ viewership has declined considerably since the end of Season 6. Fans have been disappointed by the loss of Elena Gilbert and the lack of a main female character to replace her. Fans are not generally open to Damon Salvatore moving on, since it seems the character is not completely open to moving on anyway. Elena was laced in a coma at the end of Season 6, linked to best friend Bonnie Bennett after actress Nina Dobrev decided to leave the show. By not killing the character off, there is the chance to bring her back if Dobrev decides to renew her role. At the moment, she has said it will not happen.

The CW announced a new line-up for shows in the new year. While many shows will remain the same up until Wednesday nights — meaning The Flash, Arrow and Supernatural will remain unchanged — The Vampire Diaries and The Originals will move from Thursdays to Fridays when they return from their winter hiatuses on January 29. This is the first move for the parent show, with the child show moving from a Monday to a Thursday this year. The schedule change appears to be making room for the Arrow and Flash spin-off series, Legends of Tomorrow, and the third season of The 100 starting on January 21, according to Australia Network News. Reign has been completely removed from the line-up for the time being.

International Business Times believes that at least one show will be cancelled. The Vampire Diaries saw a boost in ratings during Season 6 when Damon and Elena were reunited. It breathed a new life into the show, especially when there were hints that Stefan and Caroline were going to unite. Even though Steroline is now official, it does not seem enough to keep fans interested without Delena being a thing.

However, there have been shows that have come back from the Friday night move. Supernatural was moved to a Friday night after low viewing figures during Seasons 6 and 7. The show managed to make a comeback and was moved to Tuesdays and then to Wednesday nights. It has remained on Wednesdays for Season 11, following D.C. Comics’ Arrow.

Bones has also continued to thrive with a Friday night move. There are some who argue that it could be due to a different network and a different demographic. The CW network caters to teenagers and young adults, while Bones is aimed at older audiences who are less likely to go out as often on a Friday night.

However, there are plenty of TV shows that have not succeeded following such a move. Friday night is traditionally the night that people avoid watching TV, so low ratings are expected. Fans of The Vampire Diaries and The Originals believe the network is setting them both up to fail, similar to the way Reign fans said the network was setting the show up to fail for Season 3 when it moved from the Thursday to a Friday at the start of this season.

For now, the two shows remain on Thursday nights, with The Originals following its parent show. It will remain that way until the winter hiatus coming up later this month. The night change will continue until January 29, when the two shows return, and is expected to continue for the rest of their seasons. Announcements for renewals of The Vampire Diaries, The Originals and other CW shows are not expected until May 2016.

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