Turner Network Television has pulled the lifeline on Heartland, one of its new summer dramas, officials confirmed Friday.
The performance of the hour-long medical show, featuring Treat Williams, just didn’t compare to that of TNT’s veteran hot hit, The Closer, or the network’s second summer hit drama, Saving Grace.
When it premiered June 18, Heartland was scheduled Monday nights at 10 p.m., after The Closer, but wound up losing more than half that blockbuster’s lead-in audience. After its first two installments, Heartland was averaging a 2.9 rating and 3.5 million viewers, a steep drop from The Closer’s average ofa 5.8 rating and 7.6 million viewers, according to Nielsen Media Research.
In July, TNT moved Heartland to 8 p.m., putting the debuting Saving Grace in the 10 p.m. time slot after The Closer.
Heartland’s performance worsened.
During its run, Heartland averaged a 2.5 rating, or 2.4 million households and 3 million viewers. Heartland was light in the key 18 to 49 demographic, averaging 828,000 viewers that age.
