Is Virgin River Season 6 in Jeopardy After The Viewership Drops?

Without a doubt, Netflix's Virgin River is one of the most popular melodramas in the streaming giant's library, as fans eagerly await each season that follows the life of LA nurse Mel, who moves to a quiet town in search of a fresh start. And considering that the recently released Season 5 managed to generate some quite positive reviews, fans were sure that the new season would break some records, but it looks like the opposite happened.

Although Season 5 was of a higher quality than the previous two seasons, it still failed to attract more viewers than even the hated Season 4, and it looks like Netflix producers might not be so happy about it.

A drop in viewership

According to Samba TV, Virgin River experienced quite a drop in viewership compared to Season 4, as the current season managed to attract 1.3 million domestic households in its first four days, while Season 4 reached 1.46 million households in the same period.

Yes, the melodrama experienced a 13% drop from last season, which would be a huge problem for any other show, but not for Virgin River. The thing is, VR has one of the best retention rates on Netflix, as season 4 was watched in its entirety by 58 percent of viewers. If season 5 manages to achieve the same mark, Netflix's producers will surely be pleased.

Canceled?

When longtime fans of Virgin River heard about the drop in viewership, they began to fear that Netflix might cancel the show for good, but the truth about the melodrama's renewal is actually already known.

Back in May of this year, Netflix's producers announced that Virgin River would be renewed for Season 6, even though Season 5 had yet to be released, which means that the analytics were probably able to predict a drop in quality well in advance, and given that the show was renewed, it looks like higher-ups were pleased with its performance,

After all, Season 5 did break the 1 million households mark in four days, right?

Source: Samba TV.