We know STARZ is open to Outlander Season 8 happening, but the renewal hasn’t come through yet. What could prevent the renewal from happening?
Diana Gabaldon confirmed some great news. Sony and STARZ are currently in talks for Outlander Season 8. This suggests that nobody is ready to bring the epic love story to an end, but we’re still concerned. There are a lot of people talking about wrapping up the story with the upcoming seventh season.
Why would this series come to an end before it tells the full source material? What are the variables at play for a renewal? We take a look at the potential problems preventing STARZ from renewing the series.
Why won’t Outlander Season 8 happen?
The main deciding factor between cancellation and renewal is ratings. While STARZ doesn’t work the same as broadcast networks because it doesn’t rely on advertisers, ratings are still important. The network needs to know just how many people are watching the show. The great thing about the premium cable network is that it has an app. A lot of people watch via the app, and STARZ gets full view of those numbers.
We don’t think the ratings are the problem. While the Nielsen ratings were down, they don’t count the views via the STARZ app. We’re not worried about this figure.
It’s mostly about the cost of the series. Outlander is not a cheap series to film. It is possible that the costs mixed with the length of time to film are preventing STARZ from renewing it. Long breaks are a danger for the ratings. While we’ve not seen that as too much of a problem, there’s always a risk.
There are financial implications in the fact that STARZ doesn’t own the rights to the Diana Gabaldon series. Sony owns the rights. With STARZ potentially struggling financially, it could mean the premium cable network can’t keep going the way it is and needs to cut its likely most expensive series.
Then there’s the fact that the cast’s contracts will be coming up for renewal. Could it be possible that Sam Heughan and Caitriona Balfe are done with the show? There is always that risk when a series goes on longer than the cast originally thinks it will, and that has been the case with Outlander. However, neither of the leads have shown signs of being done with the series just yet.
STARZ isn’t done with the genre, though. We just have to look at so many period dramas that air on the network, with The Serpent Queen being the most recent. However, those shows may have a smaller budget. Really, it’s all going to come down to cost for Outlander Season 8.