In the midst of its second season, E! has renewed “The Royals” for a third season, Variety has learned. Season three will once again consist of 10 hourlong episodes.
The Elizabeth Hurley-starrer marked the first-ever scripted series for the cabler, which has enjoyed ratings success from the soapy dramedy, especially among its core audience of young, social women. So far for its sophomore run, “The Royals” is averaging 1.3 million total viewers in Live+3 and 754,000 in the adults 18-49 demo.
Receiving relatively positive reviews that held up for its second season return, the early renewal is a pattern for the series, which was picked up for season two before premiering.
“We are incredibly proud of the success of ‘The Royals.’ The series has captured fans and brought them into a regal world of sexy, fun drama. We can’t wait to see what season three will bring and what surprises are still in store as we enter the second half of season two,” said Jeff Olde, EVP of original programming and development at E!
“We are delighted by today’s pick-up announcement for season three of ‘The Royals,’” added Kevin Beggs, Lionsgate Television Group Chairman. “‘The Royals’ reflects the kind of original, noisy and provocative series that is a Lionsgate signature. We look forward to an all-new season of palace intrigue and badly behaved royals with our partners at E! and Universal Cable Productions.”
Hailing from UCP and Lionsgate, “Royals” is created by “One Tree Hill” alum Mark Schwahn, who pulls triple duty as writer, director and exec producer, along with EPs Brian Robbins, Joe Davola and Shauna Phelan. The fictional drama follows a contemporary British royal family, led by twisted matriarch Hurley as Queen Helena. The cast is rounded out by William Moseley, Alexandra Park, Jake Maskall, Tom Austen and Oliver Milburn.
“Royals” was one of the top new original scripted cable series last year. Along with reality staple “Keeping Up With the Kardashians” and medical mishap show “Botched,” the scripted series helped boost E!’s 4Q, finishing off the year as one of the few top-tier cable networks to see double-digit growth.”
The buzzy show also landed a digital after-show this season, titled “The Royal Hangover,” to serve its social media-friendly super-fans. Amazon landed the digital streaming rights to the full series last October.
“The Royals” currently airs Sunday nights at 10 p.m.
