The Blacklist is not going anywhere.
NBC announced Tuesday that it has renewed its hit drama for a ninth season.
Through its first two episodes this season, The Blacklist Season 8 is averaging a 1.2 in 18-49, and the Nov. 13 premiere has reached 7.5 million viewers in total audience measurement.
During the 2019-2020 season, The Blacklist reached nearly 39 million total viewers across linear and digital platforms.
NBC notes that the series brings in a premium upscale audience, ranking as the #2 broadcast drama during the 2019-20 season among the 18-49 demo in $100K+ per household on an index basis.
The Blacklist currently airs Fridays at 8 p.m. ET/PT.
This Friday’s episode (Jan. 29) marks a landmark for the series as the #1 name on Raymond Reddington’s notorious blacklist is revealed.
The series stars James Spader, Megan Boone, Diego Klattenhoff, Amir Arison, Hisham Tawfiq, Laura Sohn and Harry Lennix. John Eisendrath, Jon Bokenkamp, John Davis, John Fox, James Spader, Lukas Reiter, Laura A. Benson, Daniel Cerone, and Sean Hennen serve as executive producers.
The series joins fellow NBC renewed dramas This Is Us, Chicago Med, Fire, PD, SVU, and Transplant.
NBC also has a string of series waiting in the wings, including Brooklyn Nine-Nine, Good Girls, and New Amsterdam.
The early renewal for The Blacklist is hardly a surprise. Networks will likely be making decisions quicker than usual because of the rigorous measures implemented to all productions due to the pandemic.
Episodes are taking longer to produce and costing more in the process, so it makes sense to make these decisions earlier so that the show and the network can prepare for the future well in advance.
While the series is down, it remains a top performer on the network when all other metrics are factored in.
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Paul Dailly is the Associate Editor for TV Fanatic. Follow him on Twitter.