Mariska Hargitay Signs New Deal with Universal Television — What Does It Mean for SVU?

Mariska Hargitay | Photo Credits: Eric Liebowitz/NBC
Mariska Hargitay | Photo Credits: Eric Liebowitz/NBC

Law & Order: SVU star Mariska Hargitay has inked a new deal with Universal Television to continue on the long-running procedural, according to The Hollywood Reporter.

Under the new contract, Hargitay will remain with the studio that produces the NBC series, but it doesn't guarantee that SVU will be renewed for a 14th season.

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In January, Hargitay announced that she planned on staying on SVU because she is "having too much fun" with the series, which brought in new stars Danny Pino and Kelli Giddish after Christopher Meloni left at the end of last season. Warren Leight also joined this season as the new showrunner.

"It's a new show to me. It's very different," Harigtay said earlier this week. "This new cast came on and I had no idea what to expect. We had a new showrunner. I am unbelievably surprised and so excited and happy. It was such a lesson to me about one chapter closes and another one opens."

While NBC has yet to announce the fate of the series, SVU's ratings hit a series low Wednesday with 4.4 million viewers and a 1.5 in the adults 18-to-49 demographic.