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.
Schedule Shift: CBS has announced that effective July 30th new series Extant will move to the 10 PM EST timeslot. The series has been under-performing since its debut and dropped to a 1.1 rating in the 18-49 demographic based on the overnights last week. The Hollywood Reporter seems to think this is a good move seeing as Under the Dome performed well in the later hour last Summer (though it’s not doing great this year). I’m on the fence at this point because a Criminal Minds repeat seems like a rather week lead-in. But maybe CBS prefers not to see their much-hyped new series losing half or more of the audience of Big Brother which airs in the 8 PM EST timeslot. I do think this points to some potential rough waters ahead, but just how bad is hard to gauge at this point. Part of the production costs for Extant are put up by Amazon which gets exclusive streaming rights for the show, so that means that its overnight ratings don’t weigh as heavily on its chances for renewal. But CBS has to be disappointed in the numbers at this point and they made commitments to sponsors almost certainly banking on a larger audience tuning in live. The time shift is not akin to a burn-off move to Fridays or Saturdays, and the broadcast networks have a bit more flexibility with their schedules in the Summer when repeats dominate (these scheduling shifts are rarely made during the regular season). Keep an eye on this Wednesday’s ratings results which will hit on Thursday (posted first at the Cancelled Sci Fi Twitter Site) to see if the move did anything to help Extant‘s numbers.
Not Cancelled Yet: The Legend of Korra–Nickelodeon’s sequel series to Avatar: The Last Airbender—has apparently not been cancelled even though it is getting pulled off the air. Last Friday’s episode was the final installment that will air on the cable channel and the rest of the show’s third season will be available online (with a new episode rolling out each week). And they still plan on doing Book 4, though no word yet on whether that will only air online as well. That show has not been making it into the Cable Top 100 the past few weeks, but apparently its network still believe it deserves the chance to wrap up its story.
Ratings Results (for the sci fi / fantasy shows airing Thursday 7/24 and Monday 7/28): The numbers for the Summer sci fi / fantasy shows over the past few days remained mostly the same week over week, though Syfy’s Dominion dropped a tick to a 0.4 rating with 1.5 million total viewers. That’s on the low side for what is certainly a costly show, and will keep it firmly On the Bubble. On Sunday July 20th, Lifetime’s new series The Lottery slipped in under the radar and posted a 0.4 rating with 1.1 million total viewers. That was a somewhat weak debut for an original series on that channel and this past Sunday it slipped out of the Cable Top 100 altogether. I will keep an eye out for its final numbers, but that show is definitely off to a somewhat slow start.
Following are the full ratings results* for the past few days with my comments, and keep an eye on the Cancelled Sci Fi Twitter Site for the latest numbers and any breaking news.
Defiance Syfy Thu 7/24 8 PM
Rating: 0.5 | Tot Viewers: 1.6 | StD Rating: 0.5 | Target: 0.6 | Cancellation Alert: Moderate
It’s doing better than Dominion (slightly), but is that really saying anything?
Dominion Syfy Thu 7/24 9 PM
Rating: 0.4 | Tot Viewers: 1.5 | StD Rating: 0.5 | Target: 0.6 | Cancellation Alert: Moderate
I have a hard time believing that a 0.4 rating is going to be good enough for Syfy to greenlight a second season for this one. It needs to get its numbers back up.
True Blood HBO Sun 7/27 9 PM
Rating: 1.8 | Tot Viewers: 3.4 | StD Rating: 1.8 | Target: 1.5 | Cancellation Alert: Final Season
Looks like it is going to hold at this level, but I expect it to jump for its series finale.
Witches of East End LIFE Sun 7/27 9 PM
Rating: 0.5 | Tot Viewers: 1.1 | StD Rating: 0.5 | Target: 0.5 | Cancellation Alert: Low
It’s not performing as well as its first season, but I think it is still doing good enough for Lifetime. They might consider shifting it to a less competitive night, though.
The Last Ship TNT Sun 7/27 9 PM
Rating: 1.1 | Tot Viewers: 4.4 | StD Rating: 1.1 | Target: 1.0 | Cancellation Alert: Renewed
Holding a steady course as it cruises into its second season.
The Leftovers HBO Sun 7/27 10 PM
Rating: 0.8 | Tot Viewers: 1.6 | StD Rating: 0.8 | Target: 1.0 | Cancellation Alert: Moderate
It has held at a 0.8 rating the last two weeks. Another week at that level and perhaps I will move it out of Bubble status.
The Strain FX Sun 7/27 10 PM
Rating: 1.0 | Tot Viewers: 2.3 | StD Rating: 1.1 | Target: 1.0 | Cancellation Alert: Low
Still holding at this level. That may be good enough to win it a second season.
Falling Skies TNT Sun 7/27 10 PM
Rating: 0.7 | Tot Viewers: 2.7 | StD Rating: 0.8 | Target: 1.0 | Cancellation Alert: Renewed
It’s at a series low point. If TNT had not already announced the show’s final season, they would be leaning heavily in that direction by now.
Under The Dome CBS Mon 7/28 10 PM
Rating: 1.5 | Tot Viewers: 6.6 | StD Rating: 1.8 | Target: 1.6 | Cancellation Alert: Low
If this one does not sink any lower, it may be okay. But CBS has to be underwhelmed with the ratings thus far from the show’s sophomore season.
Teen Wolf MTV Mon 7/28 10 PM
Rating: 0.7 | Tot Viewers: 1.6 | StD Rating: 0.7 | Target: 0.8 | Cancellation Alert: Low
This show is still doing well enough for its network and registering each week on the social networks. And its fifth season is already in the bag.
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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
Tot Viewers: Estimated total viewers to tune in to the episode for same day viewing
StD Rating: Season to date average for the rating metric tracked above.
Target: The estimated average rating that the show needs to sustain to get renewed.
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.
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Ratings Source: TV by the Numbers
Nielsen TV Ratings: ©2014 The Nielsen Company. All Rights Reserved.
