NBC renews freshman hit 'The Blacklist' for a second season

Series is broadcast's No. 1-rated drama in 18-49 and top new show in demo, total viewers

NBC has ordered a full 22-episode second season of freshman smash "The Blacklist," broadcast television's No. 1 drama in the 18-49 demo, fresh off of Monday night's substantial showing and timeslot win. The series is the fall season's breakout hit in both same day and record-setting live-plus-7 viewing.

Robert Greenblatt, chairman of NBC Entertainment, and Jennifer Salke, president of NBC Entertainment, made the announcement jointly.

"The success of 'The Blacklist' demonstrates that inspired storytelling is alive and well in broadcast television, and I'm impressed on a daily basis by this creative team's imagination and the extent to which they will go to capture this grand vision on film," Greenblatt said. "With gratitude to both our partners at Sony Pictures Television and our NBC development executives who took a great script and shepherded it into a great series, I hope that Red Reddington never runs out of names to bring down on his list!"

Added Salke: "We are very proud of the creative achievements of 'The Blacklist,' starting with creator Jon Bokenkamp and his incredible producing partners John Eisendrath, John Davis, John Fox and Michael Watkins. Our hats are off to them and to everyone in our dream cast - starting with the incomparable James Spader and Megan Boone - and our maverick pilot director, Joe Carnahan, and all of the gifted writers, producers and directors who bring this cinematic show to life each week."

"The Blacklist" is the No. 1 drama on the "Big 4" networks in the 18-49 demo, averaging a 4.9 rating/13 share in most current viewing. It is the No. 2 scripted series in the 18-49 demo, and the No. 1 new show in 18-49 and total viewers.

The Nov. 4 episode of "Blacklist" delivered the largest total-viewer increase from live-plus same-day viewing to live-plus-7 in U.S. TV history, growing by 6.589 million (from 10.337 million to 16.926 million). "The Blacklist" now holds the top three increases from L+SD to L+7 among total viewers in U.S. TV history.

In historical context, "The Blacklist" is NBC's most-watched new drama eight weeks into its run in 19 years (since "Earth 2" in 1994).

The series stars Emmy Award winner Spader as "Red" Reddington, a world-renown terrorist on the FBI's Most Wanted List who is helping the U.S. government catch international criminals, but for unknown reasons. The series also stars Boone, Diego Klattenhoff, Harry Lennix, Ryan Eggold and Parminder Nagra.