Cancellation Watch: When Will We Know if Shows Like Agents of SHIELD, The 100, Limitless, and Grimm Will Get Cancelled or Renewed? Plus the Weekly Ratings Roundup

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9 years ago

Unless otherwise noted, the ratings numbers below are based on the final overnights and may vary slightly from the preliminaries reported on the Cancelled Sci Fi Twitter Site.

The Upfronts: In last week’s Tuesday post, I looked at several sci fi / fantasy shows that are certain to get renewed as well as some that appear to have a firm date with the Network Executioner in their future. But I know that many sci fi fans want to know when we will hear the final word on all of this season’s genre entries, especially bubble shows like Agents of SHIELD, Limitless, iZombie and more. The fact is that an announcement could come at anytime like it did for Angel from Hell a couple of weeks ago. But the networks have been very tight-lipped about cancellations of late, and even though shows like Minority Report and Second Chance are for all practical purposes cancelled, no official word has been given on their fate. There is a deadline, though, that the networks face when they have to finally reveal their plans for the shows currently on their schedules. That’s the Upfronts that come around every year when the networks make their presentations to the advertisers. This is when they announce their schedules for the upcoming season and we find out for certain which shows will survive into another year and which ones get ushered off the schedule by the Network Executioner. Generally all the announcements come at the end of the week before and/or the weekend preceding the Upfronts. But sometimes negotiations go to the eleventh hour (as they did last year with Person of Interest) and we do not find out until right before the network’s presentation. Below is the Upfront schedule for the broadcast networks and the NBC Universal Cable presentation on Thursday will included channels like Syfy and USA (though I seem to remember Syfy doing a separate presentation earlier last year). So if we have not heard any announcements before these dates, then we should learn the final verdicts by the time of the presentation. Sometimes, one or two shows may be held in limbo for a week or two after the Upfronts (like Hannibal a few seasons back). But for most, their fate is determined by the dates below or before. And expect The CW to make its typical blanket renewal announcement well before the Upfronts, probably sometime next month (and I give you a look at which of those shows will be coming back at this link). And a few other announcements could come in between now and then, especially from the cable networks as they have their presentations (you can see the full Upfront schedule at this link). But right before the week of May 16th, expect announcements to be flying left and right and be sure to keep a close eye on this site for breaking news and analysis. Here is the full schedule for the broadcast networks and NBC Universal Cable:

2016 Upfronts:
May 16, 2016 NBC-TV Morning
May 16, 2016 Fox Afternoon
May 17, 2016 ABC-TV Afternoon
May 18, 2016 CBS-TV Afternoon
May 19, 2016 The CW Morning
May 19, 2016 NBC Universal Cable Afternoon

Ratings results for the sci fi / fantasy shows airing Monday February 15th thru Sunday February 21st (metric definitions below):

(Updated for the broadcast network and cable Top 25 chart activity)

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Road Rage: Alex and her brother must ride the apocalypse highway to meet up with their family, otherwise they will find themselves cast with the savages. Buy now in eBook and print format

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Cyber Knight & the Hand Puppet Commandos: One woman, seven hand puppets, and the solution to the Fermi Paradox will determine the fate of the Earth. Buy now in eBook and print format

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On hiatus, returns February 29th.

Preempted for the Grammy Awards.

Its numbers continue to slip, but they are still quite good for a broadcast network show these days. FOX has said that they would like to do more episodes, so I am sure that this one will be back on the schedule at some point next season.

Chart Activity: This show slipped to Number 7 in the broadcast network Top 25 based on the overnights for the 18-49 demographic (down from Number 3) and slipped to Number 22 based on total viewers (down from Number 16).

This show slipped again, but more important will be its numbers when Gotham becomes is lead-in starting next week. Its fate hinges upon that.

Chart Activity: This show improved to Number 23 in the broadcast network Top 25 based on the overnights for the 18-49 demographic (up from Number 24) and did not make it into the Top 25 based on total viewers.

It slipped just a bit, but no worries because it has already been renewed for a second season.

The numbers are low year over year, but this show is in its final season.

It was down a bit from its season high the prior week, but it was still the fourth highest rated show on the broadcast nets on Tuesday night. The third season is just a rubberstamp away.

Chart Activity: This show slipped back into the broadcast network Top 25 based on the overnights for the 18-49 demographic at the Number 24 slot.

This show slipped again and it doesn’t look like it can beat the odds a second time. More on that at this link.

On hiatus, returns March 8th.

The numbers remain low for this show despite having the network’s best rated series as its lead-in. Considering all the development that The CW currently has in the pipeline, I don’t like iZombie‘s chances at the moment.

It was down just a bit from the prior week, but it still appears to be on track for a second season renewal.

It was up a bit from the prior week and it has already been renewed for a sixth season.

This show slipped and I don’t like its chances especially considering the cancellation of Angel from Hell which had only a slightly lower season to date average and is cheaper to produce. But CBS has done nothing to help Limitless with its poor scheduling this year.

The numbers slipped for this one and I wonder if they are good enough to keep such an expensive series going. More on that at this link.

It held steady with the prior week and remains on target for a fifth season renewal.

This show held steady and everything points to it coming back for a record setting twelfth year.

It slipped a bit, but it has already been renewed for a third season.

This show slipped, which is not good for such an expensive entry. If The CW gives us another “limited run” of this one, I’m expecting fewer heroes to be onboard with less sfx demands.

This show slipped again and even though it has an international partnership backing it, these levels are likely too low for NBC to keep it on the schedule for another season. In fact, I wouldn’t be surprised if this got kicked to Fridays or Saturdays for a burn-off run in the next week or two.

The numbers remained down for this show which is not good. At this level, I’m not sure The CW will bring it back considering all the options they currently have in their development pipeline.

It slipped a bit, but it has already been renewed for a second season.

It held steady with the prior week and an eighth season seems almost guaranteed at this point. That will likely be its last, though.

It slipped from the prior week and this show is likely just burning off its remaining Season 3 episodes before heading to the Network Executioner.

It improved from the prior week and a fourth season is assured to get it to enough episode for a syndication run. That could very well be its last, though.

It improved a bit from the prior week, but that is almost certainly too little too late. The Network Executioner already has this one on his appointment list.

It held steady and it continues to show decent delayed viewing gains. But I still think this one could be in its last season.

The ratings remained low for this one and it’s looking like ITV may not bring it back for a second season.

On hiatus, returns March 8th.

It was down just slightly from the prior week. The zombie rot has not set into this one’s ratings as much as some naysayers would like you to believe and it has plenty more seasons ahead of it.

Chart Activity: This show held at Number 2 in the Weekly Nielsen Twitter Ratings Top 10. It held at Number 1 in the Cable Top 25 based on the overnights for the 18-49 demographic and based on total viewers. Post-show discussion series The Talking Dead held at Number 2 on both those charts.

On hiatus, returns March 8th.

Be sure keep an eye out for the latest numbers and any breaking news throughout the week at the Cancelled Sci Fi Twitter Site. You can see the status of all the currently airing sci fi / fantasy shows at the Cancellation Watch page and also the latest Sci Fi TV Power Rankings post. And for more information on where I get these numbers and how I make my Cancellation Alert assessments, check out the Cancelled Sci Fi FAQ.

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Metric Definitions:

Rating: Overnight rating in the 18-49 demographic for same day viewing based on the final numbers unless otherwise noted

% Chng PW: The percentage change +/- for this week’s rating vs. last week’s rating.

Tot Viewers: Estimated total viewers (age 2+) to tune in to the episode for same day viewing.

StD Rating: Season to date average for the rating metric tracked above.

Net Avg: The season to date average rating for the network for non-sports programming and non-repeats. This data is available for the broadcast networks only.

Cancellation Alert: My prediction of the likelihood that a show will get cancelled. From least to most likely the statuses are Low, Moderate, Medium, Elevated, and High.