WE tv Cancels 'The Divide' After One Season

WE tv announced on Thursday that it has decided not to pick up a second season of the ambitious drama "The Divide."

The series debuted in June with an audience of around 500,000 but by the time of the season finale in August, the audience had shrunk to about 280,000.

“We are extremely proud of The Divide and grateful to its brilliant creators, Richard LaGravenese and Tony Goldwyn, and an amazing cast and crew, for bringing this story to life as WE tv’s first scripted series," the network said in a statement.

"The Divide" was originally developed by Tony Goldwyn and Richard LaGravenese for sister network AMC before moving to WE tv. The series was a look at the criminal justice system as seen through the eyes of a case worker and district attorney. The two battle in part over the fate of a man who has been sentenced to life in prison for a murder the case worker comes to believe that he didn't commit.

Despite the show's lackluster ratings, the show's producers had already given a lot of thought to what a second season of the show would look like. In a conference call with reporters just before the series premiere, show co-creator Tony Goldwyn said this:

"What happens is this case sufficiently derails all of these people’s lives and opens up real problems for all of them that will launch us into a second season. So the Butler case, while I can’t say it’s tied up neatly, because it’s a mess, there’s resolution there, but it leaves a lot of metaphorical bodies in the road."

While "The Divide" wasn't the ratings hit the network was hoping to see, WE tv continues to work on other scripted shows. Next up is the Eli Roth series "South Of Hell," which is set to premiere in 2015.