In a recent statement, CBS Entertainment President Amy Reisenbach has opened up about the network’s decision to cancel FBI: International and FBI: Most Wanted ahead of the 2025-26 TV season. Despite both spinoffs attracting an average of about 6.5 million total viewers per episode, which was only a slight decline from previous seasons, financial constraints and budget concerns played a crucial role in the cancellations.

Both FBI: International and FBI: Most Wanted ranked among CBS’s top 14 dramas for the season, outdrawing other series like Fire Country and NCIS: Sydney, as well as the canceled S.W.A.T. and The Equalizer. However, Reisenbach stressed the importance of fiscal responsibility when making programming decisions. “We have to be fiscally responsible,” she explained during the CBS fall schedule reveal event. “Ultimately, those deals and the shows just weren’t penciling out for us from an economic perspective.”

Reisenbach acknowledged the network’s ongoing partnership with Dick Wolf, the creator of the FBI franchise, and expressed excitement about a new spinoff series, tentatively titled CIA, which will star Lucifer actor Tom Ellis. The CIA series is set to expand the FBI franchise further, and it will be featured alongside the main FBI series in a new two-hour block on Mondays at 9/8c.

The decision to cancel FBI: International and FBI: Most Wanted appears to have been influenced by difficult renewal negotiations with NBCUniversal Television, the outside supplier for these shows. This “ripple effect” may have played a role in the financial challenges faced by the spinoffs.

Despite the cancellations, Reisenbach reassured that CBS is still committed to working with Dick Wolf and that the CIA spinoff will continue the success of the FBI franchise. The network also had to make tough decisions regarding other shows, such as The Equalizer, which was also canceled due to similar concerns about ratings, finances, and the show’s place in the TV schedule.

This decision follows the earlier cancellation of S.W.A.T., a show that had been on the brink of cancellation multiple times before. CBS ultimately decided not to pursue further seasons, and although there were attempts to sell the show to other networks, it was not successful.

As FBI: International and FBI: Most Wanted exit the airwaves, fans are left wondering what the future holds for the FBI franchise and how CIA will fare in its place. CBS continues to make strategic moves to balance creative ambitions with financial realities, and with FBI and CIA scheduled for Monday nights, the network is clearly looking to streamline its programming while still providing exciting, action-packed content for viewers.