“True Blood,” will end its run after the 2014 season next summer.
Steadily declining ratings — Season 6 premiered to 4.5 million viewers, down 700,000 from last season — proved that viewers were h๊eading for the exits and that the show is reaching its sell-by date.
The 1ꦫ0-episode seventh season will air next summer.
Series c🀅reator Alan Ball had already moved on, handing over the day-to-day to Brian Buckner — though stars Anna Paquin and Stephen Moyer remained with the series.
Based on the Sookie Stackhouse novels by Charlaine Harris, “True Blood” was an instꦦant camp hit when it premier🎉ed in 2007, and ranks as HBO’s most-watched series behind “The Sopranos” and “Game of Thrones.”
In a statement, HBO president of programming Michael Lombardo said, “ ‘True Blood’ has been nothing short of a defining show for HBO. Together with its legions of fans, it will be hard to say goodbye to the residents of Bon Temps, but I look forward to what pro✅mises to be a fantastic final chapter . . . ”
“From the moment I read Charlaine🍃’s books, I thought there was potential for something really s෴pecial,” Ball said in a statement.
HBO’s “Boardwalk Empire“ and “Game of Thrones” are both entℱering their fourth seasons, but “GOT” won’t return until next spring.
“The Newsroom,” whose ratings have slipped, has yet to be renewed.