Syfy’s new space opera series Vagrant Queen premiered in late March, but it has yet to find much of an audience and now it looks like the show is getting booted from Prime Time. Through its first three episodes, it has averaged only a 0.07 rating based on same-day viewing for the 18-49 demographic, with its numbers sinking each week. Neither Syfy nor parent company NBCUniversal has an ownership stake in the show, so the network only makes money on advertising revenue and that is driven by the same-day numbers. At the current levels, sponsors are certainly not interested in paying much for commercial spots (especially outside of Prime Time).
According to the current schedule, the planned April 17th airing has been preempted and the network’s website indicates that the show will next air Thursday, April 23rd at 11 PM EST. That shifts the show out of the Prime Time hours (8 PM to 10 PM EST), likely for a burn-off run. The last time that a Syfy series got kicked out of Prime Time was in 2016 when Hunters was booted from its Monday 10 PM EST timeslot to midnite. That show also suffered from low ratings and was cancelled at the end of its first season. Currently, it appears that Vagrant Queen is headed to the same fate.
With the sinking ratings, I had quickly moved the show to Cancellation Likely status, and this scheduling shift seems to confirm its fate. It has been flying solo on Friday nights without the benefit of a decent lead-in, and it did not receive much in the way of promotion from the network. It is also not a well-known property, based on the Vault comic book series by Magdalene Visaggio and Jason Smith. It is possible that the show has international financing and/or syndication deals that could keep it viable. But if not, it seems almost certain that Syfy will part ways with the series by the end of the season. Fans may want to make a Call to Action on the social networks to help it out or possibly interest another venue in picking up the show. But that needs to happen RIGHT NOW, and it needs to be LOUD!
The current season will be winding down soon and we should expect to hear word on the fate of shows such as USA’s The Purge, ABC’s Emergence, and more. You can see the status of all the currently airing, returning, and upcoming sci fi and fantasy shows on our Cancellation Watch Page. And be sure to stay tuned to this site and the Cancelled Sci Fi Twitter Site for breaking news and updates.
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