5th Wheel Deep-Sixed

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In its first major programming move, NBC Universal Domestic Television has decided to shut down dating show The 5th Wheel, which aired mostly in late-night time slots.

The show just finished its third season, averaging a 1.1 in national households. The 5th Wheel, like all its dating counterparts, performed best among younger audiences, averaging a 0.9 among women 18-34 in the May sweeps.

The decision caught the show's production company, Renegade 83, by surprise, but the company's other dating show, Blind Date, will continue. Blind Date is the genre's ratings leader, averaging a 1.5 in the May sweeps.

Paige Albiniak
Paige Albiniak

Contributing editor Paige Albiniak has been covering the business of television for more than 25 years. She is a longtime contributor to Next TV, Broadcasting + Cable and Multichannel News. She concurrently serves as editorial director for The Global Entertainment Marketing Academy of Arts & Sciences (G.E.M.A.). She has written for such publications as TVNewsCheck, The New York Post, Variety, CBS Watch and more. Albiniak was B+C’s Los Angeles bureau chief from September 2002 to 2004, and an associate editor covering Congress and lobbying for the magazine in Washington, D.C., from January 1997 - September 2002.