When Thomas Gibson was fired from “Criminal Minds,” fans started a #NoHotchNoWatch campaign. They hoped that the campaign would either bring Gibson back or cancel the show for good. Unfortunately for them it looks like it has done neither. CBS confirmed “Criminal Minds” season 13 earlier this month.

Ratings have been up and down for ‘Criminal Minds’ season 12

There’s no denying that the #NoHotchNoWatch campaign had a small effect. It didn’t help that the bad press around the show during the summer affected the start of the season. When the premiere aired, it saw more than an 11% drop in the viewing figures compared to the season 11 finale.

A drop for a premiere isn’t actually that uncommon. However, the drop may have alarmed the network at first, especially since it had just signed a new deal with ABC to license the show. The 14% drop the next week must have shaken things up further, as well.

However, the large drop didn’t stick. In fact, the week after the ratings saw a 10% increase. This was likely due to it being Gibson’s final episode and fans wanted to see how his character would be written out. When it was clear that the character wasn’t written out permanently, the next week saw an 8% drop.

Spencer Reid may have saved the day

It is possible that focusing on Spencer Reid throughout “Criminal Minds” season 12 helped. Fans were able to focus on a character that they were able to grow to love.

They battled with worry that he was going to be written out and it meant that some who had been involved in the #NoHotchNoWatch campaign gave up—not everyone, but some.

That was certainly clear when the last few weeks saw bigger viewer increases and smaller drops. Overall, the show held steady, with figures likely around what was expected for such a long-running show.

There is the expectation that the ratings will go up for the “Criminal Minds” season 12 finale. Shemar Moore is reprising his role as Derek Morgan, a character that fans were devastated to see leave at the end of season 11.

No major changes are expected for “Criminal Minds” season 13. The current series regulars are expected to return to their roles and Erica Messer is expected to return as the showrunner.

However, these are still early days and it is possible that people will change their minds during the summer. If they do, Messer will likely convince them to stick around to write them out well as she did with Moore’s character.

CBS hasn’t confirmed anything else about the show just yet. It does look like the “Criminal Minds” spinoff “Beyond Borders” will be cancelled next year, due to extremely poor ratings.
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