"Arrow" was once a hit TV series when it was first aired on CW, but its recent rating weren't doing so well, especially after its midseason episode. The show has been renewed for season 6 this 2017.
It is disappointing that a good show like "Arrow" used to be ranking so high in ratings back when it premiered in 2012. After 6 seasons, the show seems to decline and it is a little bit of a concern on the network's end since it kind of opened their whole idea of having a superhero franchise deal.
For those who didn't notice, CW sort of made it a niche to have all the DC superheroes under their network.
According to Cinema Blend, "Arrow," was the start of this niche, which then resulted in the network having "The Flash" and even "Super Girl," just to name a few. However, the midseason of "Arrow" didn't really do well having only 0.6 as a score for the demographic targeting people who are 18-49.
The show only had 1.68 million viewers, which means it dropped from 1.94 million viewers before the midseason aired. Those two numbers were already not good and it is absolutely putting the show in a critical standing. It looks like the crowd didn't like the fact that Laurel Lance was back from that cliffhanger before the midseason was shown.
Variety reported that Talia (Lexa Doig) finally made an appearance this time, but it still didn't work to pull up its ratings. For those who doesn't know her, she is the daughter of Ra's al Ghul (Malcolm Merlyn). The network has not determined yet what mistake are they doing this time.
However, it is possible that the change of casting might have contributed to it. Like Matt Nable being replaced by Malcolm Merlyn after season 3 for the role of Ra's al Ghul. In this case, the audience might be longing for some consistency.