Criminal Minds Renewed for Season 12

File this one under, “Better late than never“: CBS has renewed Criminal Minds for a 22-episode 12th season, TVLine has learned.

Criminal Minds this season averaged 9 million total viewers — besting fellow vets Hawaii Five-0, NCIS: LA and The Good Wife, as well as bubble freshman Supergirl, Limitless and Code Black — and a 1.8 demo rating, third only on the network to Big Bang and NCIS. Those numbers swell to 12.8 mil and 3.0 with Live+7 DVR playback. This week’s Season 11 finale (8.8 mil/1.8) matched the crime drama’s year-ago season ender.

Financial issues delayed the pricey procedural’s renewal; CBS was reportedly busy hammering out a leaner license fee for the long-running series. The recent loss of original cast member Shemar Moore (Derek), who was written out in March, likely helped reduce costs.

The jury is still out on rookie spinoff Criminal Minds: Beyond Boarders. Other CBS series still on the bubble: Rookie dramas Code Black, Limitless and Supergirl, freshman comedy Life in Pieces, and, last but not least, ratings-challenged and buzz-deprived CSI: Cyber.