Scandal to End With Season 7

The End Date has been handled.

Although ABC isn’t commenting, multiple sources confirm to TVLine exclusively that Scandal‘s upcoming seventh seventh will be its last. The network is expected to make a formal announcement at its upfront presentation on Tuesday. I’m told series creator Shonda Rhimes made the call to conclude the series, and ABC accepted her decision.

The news comes with three episodes remaining in Scandal‘s current sixth season.

Rhimes has previously said that, unlike the long-running Grey’s Anatomy, Scandal‘s heavily serialized, high-stakes narrative necessitates a short-ish shelf life. And it seems she’ll get no argument from viewers. In a recent poll, fans overwhelmingly agreed with TVLine Senior Editor Andy Swift’s editorial that Scandal‘s end needs to be nigh.

“I feel like there is a finite amount of Scandal to be told,” Rhimes previously told NPR. “So I know what the end of Scandal will be, and I feel really good about that. And I can see where the end point is. And I don’t think I’m going to change that.”

Scandal this season has been averaging 5.7 million total viewers and a 1.5 demo rating, down 20 and 30 percent from Season 4 and hitting series lows (5.1 mil/1.2) as recently as April 6. At its zenith (with the Season 4 premiere), the D.C. drama pulled 12 million viewers with a 3.8 demo rating.

Earlier this year, ABC president Channing Dungey was asked about Scandal‘s future beyond Season 7. “We have not really talked about what happens after that,” she told our sister outlet Variety. “But I love the show, and I would happily keep the show on as long as she feels that she has creative runway to write the show.”