Mar 9, 2015 4 min read

By my count, 76 television series have been renewed for next season.

That’s both notable and alarming.

It’s notable because, in the near past, networks and cable stations waited for splashy late-spring press conferences to unveil that information. Networks especially preferred to track viewer interest in a series over a full season before determining the show’s future.

No more. For instance, with a just a few episodes under its belt, “Empire” has already received the green light for a second year.

This quick renewal of those six dozen shows (it could be seven dozen by the time you read this) also begs a few questions. Why is there a need for so much programming? Doesn’t this splintering of the TV audience negatively affect potential advertisers? More importantly, are there enough capable actors for all these casts? Unfortunately, we all know the answer to that last question. But I digress.

I suspect one reason for these early renewals is increasing feedback that indicates viewers are reluctant to sample new series for fear of getting burned. How many new shows have you watched only to have them yanked off the air – in the middle of a story arc, no less – never to be seen again? New series? No, thank you.

Early renewal, if adequately publicized, assures viewers the show will be around awhile and it may even pick up additional fans for the series.

Also, if networks and cable stations have a clearer picture of an upcoming schedule, they can be more prudent with ordering pilots. Gone are the days when networks would order three dozen shows to fill six open slots. Today, pilots are more likely to be ordered to fill specific holes in the schedule.

The resulting cost-savings enables TV executives to lock in hit series years in advance. For instance, “Big Bang Theory,” “Big Brother” “Game of Thrones,” “It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia” “Kingdom,” “The League” “Pretty Little Liars” and “South Park” have all been renewed through the 2016-17 season.

The downside of early renewals is that viewers can now detect the demise of other shows and have begun abandoning them rather quickly. While it’s true that a “Mysteries of Laura” might well be renewed because it’s the best performing of a mediocre class of new shows on NBC (and the network can’t toss out all of them), there are a host of freshman series that have no hope of making it to a sophomore year, even if the networks have not yet formally given them the boot. Those include “Marry Me,” “Allegiance,” “Constantine” and “State of Affairs” (NBC); “The McCarthys” “Stalker” and – yes – “Battle Creek” (CBS); “Forever” and “Cristela” (ABC); and “Backstrom,” “Mulaney” and “Red Band Society” (Fox). CBS also ran – evidently in error – an ad for the “series finale” of “CSI,” then quickly pulled it. But consider the long-running show canceled. Please don’t shoot the messenger.

The upside is that CBS also gave the “all clear” sign for a second season to “Scorpion” “Madam Secretary” and “CSI: New Orleans”; the CW approved another round of “Flash” and “Jane the Virgin”; and Fox has renewed “Gotham.” And AMC gave a nod to a second season of “Better Call Saul” almost before the first round of ratings came in.

But if anticipation of show renewals has all but been eliminated for this year’s upcoming “great unveiling” of the fall season (May 11-14), there will nonetheless be some interest in the restructuring of schedules. For instance:

• ABC can finally re-establish a Tuesday night comedy block with the new “Fresh Off the Boat” as an anchor. But it will need to pair it with an established sitcom this fall. Which one? (We’re betting on “The Middle.”)

• NBC made a big mistake moving “The Blacklist” to Thursday and surrounding it with two soon-to-be-erased series. Will “Blacklist” return to Monday, and if so, what will NBC do with a wide-open Thursday night?

• CBS has all the hits it can handle, and “CSI: Cyber” is likely to return. Does that make the fading “Person of Interest” expendable? “The Odd Couple” also is doing well, and one imagines CBS will simply use it to fill “The McCarthys” hole in its Thursday lineup. But with the luxury of too many hit dramas, will CBS go all dramas on Monday and move “Two Broke Girls” and “Mike & Molly” to Thursday? Or ax one of them in favor of “The Odd Couple”?

Stay tuned.