Hannibal on The Sony Channel (DStv 127) on DStv has been cancelled and the current 3rd season finishing in August in America will be its last.
The low-rated and gruesome drama series from Bryan Fuller was based on Hannibal Lecter, the psychiatrist turned serial killer from Thomas Harris' best-selling novels.
Hannibal was co-commissioned by Sony Pictures Television Networks and France's Gaumont International Television and distributed on Sony Television's worldwide TV channels.
Hannibal with Mads Mikkelsen and Hugh Dancy will however not see a 4th season on the NBC network in America as its viewership kept plunging and with the drama burning off the episodes of the current 13-episode third season during the American summer when viewers tune out.
The 3rd season of Hannibal which began showing in America two weeks ago has not yet started on the Sony Channel on DStv.
According to The Hollywood Reporter there was an apparent rights issue behind-the-scenes which together with the low ratings spelled the death-knell for Hannibal.
Bryan Fuller wanted to introduce the character of Clarice Starling in Hannibal's possible 4th season but the rights were unavailable.
"NBC has allowed us to craft a television series that no other broadcast network would have dared, and kept us on the air for three seasons despite Cancellation Bear Chow ratings and images that would have shredded the eyeballs of lesser Standards & Practices enforcers," says Bryan Fuller in a statement.
"We thank Gaumont and everyone involved in the show for their tireless efforts that have made Hannibal an incredible experience," says NBC in a statement.
