The trends seemed to be up and down for the Wednesday thru Friday shows last week, though not too much in the way of major swings occurred. Most of the Wednesday shows suffered from a Halloween trick that drove their ratings down, but that’s to be expected. The CW’s Arrow dropped to a 1.0 rating in the 18-49 demographic and 3.1 million total viewers, ABC’s The Neighbors slipped to 1.8 rating and 5.8 million total viewers, and FX’s The American Horror story dropped to a 1.5 rating and 2.5 million total viewers (though it still won the night among cable shows). The only show that improved its numbers, and notably so, was The CW’s Supernatural which rose from a 0.7 rating the prior week to a 1.0 rating with 1.8 million total viewers. Perhaps because it is more of a Halloween themed show, that helped it out for the night. But the same can be said for similarly themed American Horror Story, yet its numbers dropped. In any case, the Trick or Treat night is never a good measuring stick for shows and the current week’s numbers will provide a better indicator of there ongoing performance.
On Thursday, The Vampire Diaries had its best numbers since January of last year as it pulled a 1.5 rating in the 18-49 demo and 3.3 million total viewers. That didn’t carry over to Beauty and the Beast, though, which lost 60% of the rating of its lead-in by pulling another 0.6 rating with only 1.7 million total viewers. This one is definitely in trouble, but since it airs on fifth place CW they may continue to be patient with it for a while. I’m keeping it at a Medium Cancellation alert for now and will see how its numbers track as Fall winds down. CBS’s Person of Interest remained steady at a 2.9 rating and 13.7 million total viewers.
On Friday, Grimm slipped just a bit to a 1.8 rating in the 18-49 demo with 5.7 million total viewers while Fringe improved to a 1.0 rating with 2.7 million total viewers. Over on The CW, Nikita doubled its rating from the prior week, but then double of nearly nothing still isn’t much. It rose from a 0.2 rating to 0.4 and pulled over one million total viewers for the first time this season. That one is banking on its strong international audience, though, so it still has a decent chance–believe it or not–of surviving into a fourth season.
I covered last week’s Sunday through Tuesday shows in my Wednesday column at this link. Keep an eye on the Cancellation Watch Twitter Site for the early returns from this week’s Sunday and Monday and you can see the Cancellation Alert status of all the shows currently airing plus the final results from prior seasons at my Cancellation Watch page. And for questions on how the ratings work and my Cancellation Alert statuses, you can see the Cancellation Watch FAQ.
Following are the ratings results (based on the overnights) for all of the genre shows from this past week. In some cases, the numbers below are based on the preliminary returns and could change slightly when the final results are tallied.
Ratings Results for the Week of Oct 28th:
Once Upon A Time (ABC Sun 8 PM) Rating: 3.4 | Trend: Up | Cancellation Alert: Low
The Walking Dead (AMC Sun 9 PM) Rating: 5.4 | Trend: Up | Cancellation Alert: Low
666 Park Ave (ABC Sun 10 PM) Rating: 1.6 | Trend: Down | Cancellation Alert: Elevated
Revolution (NBC Mon 10 PM) Rating: 3.0 | Trend: Up | Cancellation Alert: Low
Arrow (CW Wed 8 PM) Rating: 1.0 | Trend: Down | Cancellation Alert: Low
The Neighbors (ABC Wed 9:30 PM) Rating: 1.8 | Trend: Up | Cancellation Alert: Medium
Supernatural (CW Wed 9 PM) Rating: 1.0 | Trend: Down | Cancellation Alert: Moderate
American Horror Story (FX Wed 9 PM) Rating: 1.5 | Trend: Down | Cancellation Alert: Low
Last Resort (ABC Thu 8 PM) Rating: Preempted | Trend: Down | Cancellation Alert: High
Vampire Diaries (CW Thu 8 PM) Rating: 1.5 | Trend: Steady | Cancellation Alert: Low
Person of Interest (CBS Thu 9 PM) Rating: 2.9 | Trend: Up | Cancellation Alert: Low
Beauty and the Beast (CW Thu 9 PM) Rating: 0.6 | Trend: Down | Cancellation Alert: Medium
Grimm (NBC Fri 9 PM) Rating: 1.8 | Trend: Up | Cancellation Alert: Low
Fringe (FOX Fri 9 PM) Rating: 1.0 | Trend: Down | Cancellation Alert: Final Season
Nikita (CW Fri 9 PM) Rating: 0.4 | Trend: Down | Cancellation Alert: No Guess
Haven (Syfy Fri 10 PM) Rating: Pending | Trend: Steady | Cancellation Alert: Moderate
Ratings Source: TV by the Numbers
Why Were They Cancelled?
The Plight of Science Fiction and Fantasy Television in the Face of the Unforgiving Nielsens and Networks
Ever wondered why your favorite science fiction and/or fantasy show disappeared from the television schedule, never to deliver anymore new episodes? The reason why, most likely, is that it was cancelled because its ratings were low. And this book looks at those many cancelled sci fi/fantasy shows as well as the Neilsen ratings and television networks that dictate their fates. Available now for only $2.99 on Kindle from Amazon.com.
Why are you not covering “Elementary” which is a modern remake of the sherlock holmes stories? Not “sci-fi” enough?
I actually don’t consider it sci fi at all, even though it does have some interest to genre fans because of its Sherlock Holmes link. I haven’t actually watched the show (is it good?), so I don’t know if they might be working in some genre elements, but my understanding is that it’s pretty much just a straight crime drama with a modern day Holmes and Watson. It’s lead-in series, Person of Interest, is a marginal genre entry, but its basic premise of a computer that can predict crimes before they happen is 20-minutes-in-the-future sci fi, even if most of the plots veer closer to crime dramas.
But if enough people want me to cover Elementary, I’d be happy to include it here. Just to give you a quick rundown of its season so far, it has pulled moderate at best ratings in the all-important 18-49 demographic, even if CBS does regularly promote it as this season’s Number 1 new drama. They are basing their claim on its total viewers (which are regularly above ten million), but sponsors are much more interested in the 18-49 demo. And NBC’s Revolution has far out-paced Elementary thus far with that group making it truly the season’s Number 1 new drama (and just ignore The CW’s ludicrous claims of their “breakout hit” Beauty and the Beast). The guys over at TV by the Numbers currently have Elementary ranked as more likely to be renewed than cancelled by season end: http://tvbythenumbers.zap2it.com/2012/11/13/cbs-partners-is-certain-to-be-canceled-why-didnt-it-get-pulled-for-rules-of-engagement-already/157079/