Update (July 2nd, 2020): The CW has cancelled Katy Keene after one season, making it the network’s only cancellation in the 2019-2020 TV season. The Lucy Hale-led series was ultimately axed after it failed to perform well both on the linear network with delayed viewing and on The CW’s digital platforms.
Original story (May 17th, 2020): Katy Keene ended its first-season run last Thursday and it looks like fans of the musical dramedy have to wait until next month to find out whether The CW series will be cancelled or renewed for season 2.
Since the show’s linear ratings were not as impressive as the figures of other The CW series, network president Mark Pedowitz said that the future of Katy Keene now largely relies on whether or not it will find a large audience on streaming platforms. The complete 13-episode Season 1 of the Lucy Hale-led series is now available to stream for free on The CW app. It is also set to make its HBO Max debut on the streamer’s May 27th launch date.
“We are incredibly pleased with the creative [direction] of this show,” Pedowitz said of Katy Keene last May 14th. “The producers and the talented cast have done a terrific job. The linear ratings have been soft, but we have seen some good streaming viewership. We’ve gone to the studio and the producers and we’re extending the option of when we can pick it up so we could see how it’s performing once the full season is up. And also we are counting on that it will appear alongside the launch of HBO Max, and we’re hoping that that, too, will help it. And we’ll make a decision in a few weeks after that. We believe that the show will work streaming-wise. We’d like to see it perform a little bit better, but we have no creative issues on the show.”
Original The CW series like Riverdale, Jane the Virgin, Crazy Ex-Girlfriend, and All American have all drawn huge numbers of viewers on streaming platforms following their initial runs on the network, so it makes sense that The CW is waiting to see how Katy Keene will perform on HBO Max before ultimately deciding on its future.
Should Katy Keene get renewed for a second season, a crossover between it and its parent series, Riverdale, may finally happen. The freshman run of Katy Keen is set five years after the events of Riverdale, but with reports confirming that the flagship series is having a significant time jump in its upcoming season 5, a crossover between the two shows is not far from becoming a reality.
Based on Archie Comics characters, Katy Keene follows the professional and romantic lives of four aspiring artists, including fashion legend-to-be Katy Keene (Hale) and singer-songwriter Josie McCoy (Ashleigh Murray). Also starring Katherine LaNasa as Gloria Grandbilt, Julia Chan as Pepper Smith, and Jonny Beauchamp as Jorge / Ginger Lopez, Katy Keene season 1 averaged a 0.12 rating in the 18-49 demo and 480,000 viewers.