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SWAT's move to a later time in January 2025 is concerning

SWAT season 8 is on the move in January 2025. This move has us somewhat concerned.

ByAlexandria Ingham|
“Life” – 20-Squad faces down a prison hostage situation, only to be thrown into deeper danger when a bomb explodes, freeing maximum-security prisoners from their cells, including someone with a personal grudge against Hondo, on S.W.A.T., Friday, Nov. 1 (8:00-9:00 PM, ET/PT) on the CBS Television Network, and streaming on Paramount+ (live and on-demand for Paramount+ with SHOWTIME subscribers, or on-demand for Paramount+ Essential subscribers the day after the episode airs)*. Pictured (L-R):
“Life” – 20-Squad faces down a prison hostage situation, only to be thrown into deeper danger when a bomb explodes, freeing maximum-security prisoners from their cells, including someone with a personal grudge against Hondo, on S.W.A.T., Friday, Nov. 1 (8:00-9:00 PM, ET/PT) on the CBS Television Network, and streaming on Paramount+ (live and on-demand for Paramount+ with SHOWTIME subscribers, or on-demand for Paramount+ Essential subscribers the day after the episode airs)*. Pictured (L-R):

In some good news, SWAT season 8 will return in January 2025. In some bad news, the show is moving to a later timeslot.

SWAT season 8 is currently on its winter break, but not for long. The series will return on Friday, Jan. 31. Yes, it’s just sneaking in during January, and we’re happy about that. Now it comes to some bad news.

SWAT season 8 is moving to the last timeslot of the night

The show won’t kick off Friday night’s drama lineup. That honor is going to NCIS: Sydney season 2. SWAT is getting another timeslot, and really, it’s an honor to move into this timeslot. SWAT will take over Blue Bloods’ timeslot now that the series has come to an end.

That means, SWAT season 8 will air at 10/9c, straight after a new episode of Fire Country, which remains in the middle on Friday nights. While we loved Blue Bloods in this last time slot and it performed well, we are worried about SWAT’s move.

SWAT has struggled in the 10/9c timeslot before

This isn’t the first time that the series has held this timeslot. Well, at least, the time. It’s not held the Friday slot, but it’s aired at 10/9c on Wednesdays and Thursdays in the past. Both times, the series struggled, leading to its move to Friday nights.

In fact, at one point, the series was going to move to the midseason, which could have been good for it. Due to the pandemic and filming changes, SWAT ended up landing a fall slot that year, and it proved successful on Friday nights—especially for Friday nights. But of course, it was at the start of the night.

The last timeslots of the nights have always been tricky. People have work the next day, so they don’t necessarily want to stay up until 10 p.m. to watch a show. This is why some of the networks considered scrapping the timeslot completely.

This could mean that SWAT sees a decline in the linear ratings for the rest of season 8. The show has already been on the bubble multiple times, and part of that is due to linear ratings and another part due to the Sony licensing agreement. If the show sees a sharp decline, we could find that season 8 ends up being the last.

SWAT returns on Friday, Jan. 31 at 10/9c on CBS.

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