The Closer Returning to TNT for Fourth Season

Brenda Leigh Johnson is coming back.

The Los Angeles deputy police chief portrayed by Golden Globe-winner and two-time Emmy Award-nominee Kyra Sedgwick will return to TNT next summer as the “drama” network renewed The Closer for a fourth season.

TNT ordered a 15-episode fourth campaign of ad-supported cable’s top-rated original series from The Shephard/Robin Co. in association with Warner Bros. Television

“With each season, The Closer keeps getting better while its audience keeps getting bigger,” said Michael Wright, senior vice president in charge of the content-creation Group for TNT, TBS and TCM, in a prepared statement.

“From its consistently excellent execution to its unprecedented popularity, including among young adults who are recording it in large numbers, it is constantly proving itself to be one of television’s biggest success stories,” he added. “We are absolutely thrilled to be welcoming back Kyra and the rest of the extraordinary cast, along with the immensely talented production team.”

The show’s third season is averaging an industry-best 7.74 million viewers -- a total that includes 1.2 million on a time-shifted basis, according to Turner officials, who indicated that The Closer also ranks as cable’s most recorded drama on digital-video recorders among viewers, households and key adult demos.

According to Nielsen Media Research data, The Closer, season to date, has averaged a 6.0 household coverage rating, 5.62 million households (up 14% from the same stage last season) and 7.75 million viewers (19%). Among that total,the series attracted 2.4 million adults 18-49 (13%) on average and 3.16 million adults 25-54 (15%).

Time-shifted viewing -- same day plus seven day -- for the season to date lifted the show’s average delivery by 582,000 among adults 18-49, 679,000 among adults 25-54, 1.26 million with total viewers and 812,000 households when compared with live viewing. Those numbers, according to Turner officials, also make The Closer ad-supported cable’s most time-shifted drama series.