Nickelodeon Pulls the Plug on LEGEND OF KORRA: Book 3, Final Episodes to Air Online
In a sudden and unexpected move, Nickelodeon’s Legend of Korra has been pulled from its regular series airtime and its final five episodes are set to be released on various digital platforms instead. Spinning off from the critically-acclaimed Nickelodeon series, Avatar: The Last Airbender, the first season of The Legend of Korra was met with similar critical and financial success, obtaining the highest audience total for an animated series in 2012. Initially contracted as a 12-issue miniseries, it has since then been extended into a four season series totaling 52 episodes, with producers anticipating continued success. The second season didn’t live up to its expectations however, opening up with around half the viewers of the first season’s premier. Viewership continued to drop before picking up a bit by the season’s end. The third season of the series fared even worse, opening up with just 1.50 million viewers, dropping to as low as 1.18 million for its fifth episode, a far-cry from the first season’s premier with 4.55 million total viewers. Bryan Konietzko, co-creator Avatar: The Last Airbender and The Legend of Korra, cited “a mess on the distribution side” as the cause of declining viewership. The third season of the series faced numerous problems primarily caused by the leak of several episodes, which led to an unscheduled release of the first trailer, the advanced premiere date with little to no promotion, and an accelerated broadcast schedule. The third season premiered with the first three episodes, followed by back to back features for episodes four /five and six/seven. Following the eight episode’s airing, an episode of The Legend of Korra: Book 3 will be released online, weekly, via various platforms such as Nick.com, Google Play, Amazon, Xbox, and Hulu.
Julius Sambo
