ABC President Reveals Why ‘Castle’ & ‘Nashville’ Were Really Cancelled

ABC network president Channing Dungey is revealing what really lead to the cancellation of two of ABC’s most notable dramas, Castle and Nashville.

Speaking out about the somewhat surprising cancellation news at ABC’s upfronts conference call on May 17, Dungey explained the network’s decision to pull the plug on both Nashville and Castle last week, which caused outrage with a number of fans on social media.

“Internally on the network side, it was kind of the best fit for things on the schedule,” the ABC president said of Nashville and Castle’s recent cancellations, according to Us Weekly, citing that there were a slew of reasons that caused the alphabet network to pull the plug on the two series, including budgetary issues and low ratings.

“[We were] looking at ratings, looking at our own finances and looking at some of the new development,” Dungey admitted following the announcement that both Nashville and Castle would not be returning.

He appeared to confirm a recent report by Deadline that claimed Castle actress Stana Katic was not asked to renew her contract for a ninth season of the show due to “budgetary reasons.”

Prior to ABC’s announcement that Castle would not be returning for a ninth season, Deadline reported that both Katic and her co-star Tamala Jones had been let go from the series and were both told shortly before the news broke that they were not being asked back “for budgetary reasons.”

But despite reports of alleged budgetary issues at the network, the ABC president appeared to admit this week that the decision to cancel both Nashville and Castle wasn’t undertaken lightly by the network’s executives, confessing to Us Weekly that there were “a bunch of conversations at the studio level,” suggesting that the cancellation decision wasn’t an easy one.

“A lot of the decisions really did come down to the wire, which is the difficult thing about these jobs,” Channing continued after revealing the fate of Castle and Nashville, admitting that the network just did not feel that the dramas had a place in the future of the TV network.

“You have to kind of weigh and measure a lot of different things,” the ABC president continued, “even though Castle and Nashville were wonderful shows for us and good performers for a long time… the future for us did not necessarily lie in those shows.”

While speaking about the recent cancellations at ABC’s upfronts, Channing Dungey did not address persistent rumors that the network decided to pull the plug on Castle after fans threatened to boycott the show following the news that Katic was not being asked back for another season.

Castle fans threatened to boycott any further seasons of the show last month after ABC announced that Stana’s time with Castle had come to a close. A number of social media users also slammed the network for what they described as being a “disrespectful decision” not to renew Katic’s contract after eight years.

“We should boycott #castle. No more bulls*** for me. IM DONE. CASTLE ENDED ON 8X17 @Castle_ABC @ABCNetwork. U dont respect fan at all,” @andreina_hc tweeted out after the surprising news broke in April, while @Bonstle asked on the social media site, “Can we boycott #Castle and make ABC cancel it? Just cancel it, please. What’s #Castle without Beckett?”

But while some Castle fans appeared to support ABC’s decision to cancel their drama, Nashville fans took to social media to express their sadness over the news that the country music drama would not be continuing on for a fifth season.

“Nashville is cancelled, but yet Keeping Up With the Kardashians is still a thing? What is wrong with the world?! @Nashville_ABC,” Twitter user @_kaylamwilliams tweeted out on the social media site, while @Nashie_abc wrote on the social media site on May 12, “Cancelled! Going to have to let this sink in big time Nashville we love you and will forever be in our hearts. Thank you for 4 amazing Yrs.”

Were you disappointed by ABC’s decision to cancel both Nashville and Castle?

[Photo by Jason Merritt/Getty Images]