CBS Pulls 'Lotería Loca' From Schedule

CBS' fall 2023 schedule just lost a key program. The Paramount-owned network has removed Lotería Loca from its Monday, according to a press release about scheduling changes. TVLine cites a decline in viewership as the cause of the Latin-inspired series' demise. Jane the Virgin and Broke alum Jaime Camil hosted the game show, which was inspired by the Latin Bingo Lotería. It features two contestants in each episode who try to bank the most money by filling up their cards throughout multiple rounds. (All episodes of Lotería Loca are still available to stream on Paramount+. Click here for subscription info.)

The series premiered on Oct. 2 but only had 1.75 million viewers for Live+Same Day numbers. Audience dropped three of the four weeks following, with the most recent episode bringing in just over 1 million viewers and a 0.1 demo rating. While the game show has seen some positive ratings with Live-7 playback, it's only a 6 percent uptick. As for the remainder of Lotería Loca's first season, there will be a holiday special airing sometime in December, with the rest of the episodes returning "at a later date." It's unclear if this will still be on CBS or Paramount+, where the series is currently streaming.

Meanwhile, to fill up the Monday at 8 p.m. ET slot, CBS will be airing yet more NCIS. The long-running procedural already takes up 2/3 of the night with back-to-back airings, and the network will be adding in another hour. On Nov. 6 and Nov. 13, CBS will be airing three full hours of NCIS to get fans hyped up for international spinoff, NCIS: Sydney, which is premiering on Nov. 14. On Nov. 20, Let's Make a Deal Primetime will be airing in between repeats of the drama. The following week will see CBS' annual airing of the beloved Christmas special Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer. It will kick off the night at 8 p.m. ET, followed by Let's Make a Deal Primetime, with even more NCIS to end the night.

When PopCulture spoke to Jaime Camil ahead of the show's premiere, the actor spoke about how excited he was for the series to be the first multi-cultural, bilingual, Latin-inspired game show to have a spot on primetime TV. He noted that the game show brings together many different cultures, and "it is meant for the CBS core audience. While at the same time, a big, underserved audience will feel very proud to have a piece of our culture out there. But make no mistake about it, it is a TV show, a game show designed for the mainstream audience."

It's definitely a disappointment that Lotería Loca has been pulled from CBS' schedule. However, it sounds like the series will still be coming back in some way to complete the rest of the season, whenever and however that may be. In the meantime, the first five episodes are streaming on Paramount+.