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The drama 鈥淟ongmire,鈥� which formerly aired on A&E and is based on the book series of the same name by Craig Johnson, debuts a new season on Netflix today.

鈥淟ongmire鈥� follows Wyoming sheriff Walt Longmire (Robert Taylor), his co-worker in the sheriff鈥檚 department, Vic Moretti (Katee Sackhoff), and Walt鈥檚 friend Henry Standing Bear (Lou Diamond Phillips), who owns a local restaurant.聽

鈥淟ongmire鈥� debuted on A&E in 2012 and aired for three seasons, airing mostly during the summers. The show did well in the ratings for the network, becoming A&E鈥檚 most-watched drama original show ever.

But then A&E announced in 2014 that it would not be continuing with the show, a move that many industry watchers called unexpected. Ratings were reportedly down for the third season, but not by much.聽

So what was behind the move? While there were most likely other factors involved as well, the average viewing age for 鈥淟ongmire鈥� was reportedly 61. When Nielsen TV ratings are reported, those who watched a program who are between 18 and 49 are often mentioned because it鈥檚 important to advertisers.聽

"We sell the shows to advertisers based on the demographics of 18-49 and 25-54, and the audience just wasn't there," A&E Senior Vice President Dan Silberman of canceling "Longmire."

But Netflix saved the show, another program that previously aired on a TV network and then moved to the streaming service. However, some of the other shows that were scooped up by Netflix or other streaming services like Hulu include Fox鈥檚 鈥淎rrested Development鈥� and 鈥淭he Mindy Project鈥� and NBC鈥檚 鈥淐ommunity,鈥� shows that bring to mind younger viewers. What would Netflix be thinking with picking up 鈥淟ongmire鈥�?聽

鈥淣etflix understands that people over 34 have money, too,鈥� Richard F. Hanley, associate professor of journalism at Quinnipiac University, says.

Before now, Netflix has chiefly been known for original offerings like 鈥淗ouse of Cards,鈥� 鈥淒aredevil,鈥� and 鈥淯nbreakable Kimmy Schmidt.鈥� But that isn鈥檛 enough, says Mr. Hanley.聽

鈥淣etflix can't rely exclusively on these headline, culturally important shows,鈥� he says. 鈥淭hey need to move into meat-and-potatoes [programs].鈥澛�

During the 2013-2014 network TV season, CBS had the oldest viewers with an average age of 58.7. And in the 2014-2015 TV season, the network had the highest-rated drama and comedy by total viewers with 鈥淣CIS鈥� and 鈥淭he Big Bang Theory.鈥�

In addition, 鈥淟ongmire,鈥� with its upstanding sheriff protagonist, is a refreshing change from much of what is on network or cable TV or streaming services right now, Hanley says.

鈥淭V viewers have reached a point of saturation,鈥� he says of programs with flawed, morally ambiguous protagonists. 鈥淵ou don't need to have the dark hero.鈥�