FX Renews ‘Tyrant’

FX has renewed drama Tyrant, the network announced Thursday. The 13-episode second season is scheduled to premiere in the summer of 2015.

According to FX, the first season, which ended Aug. 26, averaged 5.1 million total viewers and 2.3 million viewers ages 18-49 per week in time-shifted viewing through eight of 10 weeks.

“We’re so proud of Tyrant’s performance throughout its first season,” said Nick Grad, president of original programming for FX Networks and FX Productions. “Howard Gordon is one of the best and most successful producers in this business. His ability to combine intelligent, edge-of-your-seat storytelling with events from the current geopolitical climate is truly groundbreaking. We look forward to seeing how Tyrant grows in season two.”

Produced by Gordon, Tyrant has undergone a number of changes in its short lifetime, including the departure of creator Gideon Raff. In July, just after the series — about a ruling family in a fictional Middle Eastern nation — moved production from Israel to Turkey for safety reasons, Gordon appeared on a panel at the TCA summer press tour with a number of policy and culture experts who have been advising producers, in an effort to address controversy over the show’s depiction of Middle Eastern culture.