The Fringe mid-season finale had the show’s lowest ratings yet, dipping below 3 million viewers. And with Supernatural and Grimm both airing new episodes tomorrow, the mid-season premiere could be even lower.

Fox entertainment president Kevin Reilly admits the show isn’t profitable. “The hesitation in my voice is that it’s an expensive show. We lose a lot of money on the show,” said Reilly. “But with that rating on that night it’s almost impossible for us to make money on it. We’re not in the business of losing money. We need to figure out if there’s a [deal with studio Warner Bros. that] will make sense or will this be it.”

Reilly says he’s not doing a “soft cancel” and doesn’t want to start a letter-writing campaign, which rarely works anyway. Once Fringe is canceled you can’t just wish yourself to a parallel dimension where it was never canceled. If you want to make sure Fringe has a proper ending there’s lots of things you can do now, not least of which is actually watching. Even if you’re not a Nielsen household, buzz starts with you!

It’s all about Benjamins (or Juniors), buy Fringe DVDs or download episodes (legally). Even watching for free on Hulu generates ad revenue. Heck, go to http://www.fox.com/fringe/ and click an ad, just don’t do nothing then complain when it ends with a cliffhanger.

Fringe premieres JAN 13 Friday 9PM ET on FOX.
Get caught up and watch Mid-season finale below: