Designated Survivor Season 3 Still Possible, Netflix Interested

Does the line of succession for Designated Survivor lead to Netflix? ABC cancelled the Kiefer Sutherland vehicle after two seasons, but the studio behind the series, eOne, is in talks with Netflix about picking up Designated Survivor Season 3.

According to Deadline, the talks are in the early stages and are complicated because Hulu has the U.S. SVOD rights. Netflix carries the show’s international streaming rights, which makes it a good fit.

Designated Survivor was given a straight-to-series order by ABC and premiered in 2016 to strong ratings. While they’ve declined in the second season, the delayed viewing numbers are promising, which bodes well for a streaming service. The series was cancelled by ABC on May 11th.

On a conference call, ABC president Channing Dungey offered with rationale behind the cancellation: “Creatively, we’ve had a lot of behind-the-scenes churn on the show in terms of the number of showrunners involved. We were less confident with the creative path forward than the other shows we brought back.” 

The production of the show has been turbulent with four showrunners in two seasons, and a fifth signing on for a potential third season.

We’ll keep you posted on the status of Designated Survivor Season 3.