Police show SWAT, which was recently uncancelled by CBS, lands among the top ten streaming movies and series according to Nielsen. After airing for six successful seasons on CBS, the action drama series SWAT was suddenly and surprisingly canceled earlier this year. Following outcry from several quarters, including stars of the show, CBS finally elected to reverse course, giving SWAT a reprieve and announcing a seventh and final season for the cop show.
As fans wait for the promised SWAT season 7 to arrive, news comes from Nielsen that the canceled-then-uncancelled show has become a huge hit on streaming, finishing at number 8 for the week of May 15-21. SWAT’s reported 635 million viewing minutes for that week were good enough to beat out Queer Eye and the Tom Hanks movie A Man Called Otto, and placed it just behind series like Ted Lasso and NCIS. Netflix, Hulu and Paramount+ all carry SWAT, giving fans of the show plenty of options when it comes to revisiting previous seasons.
Why CBS Saved SWAT From Cancelation
With its consistent ratings numbers over the course of season six – 6.8 million total viewers and a 0.7 demo rating each week – SWAT did not look like a candidate to get the ax from CBS. That’s why so many were outraged when the ax fell anyway, bringing SWAT to a premature end. Among those raising their voices in protest against SWAT’s shocking cancelation was star Shemar Moore, who took to Instagram to mount an impassioned defense of the show, saying it made no sense to end the series, and adding that he hoped CBS would “wake up and realize they made a mistake.”
CBS did in the end reverse their decision to cancel SWAT, but it turns out that ratings had nothing to do with the original move to ax the show. As was later revealed, a financial squabble between CBS and Sony was the real reason SWAT found itself on the chopping block. Speculation is that CBS wants full ownership of its shows as it continues building the Paramount+ streaming service, but the network could not reach agreement with Sony over the show’s future, so CBS elected to pull the plug. All those outraged by the initial decision were relieved when cooler heads prevailed and SWAT was saved from cancelation. Those happy SWAT fans apparently are all enjoying the show on streaming as they await the premiere of season 7.