So mid-season has already had one hit and one flop among genre shows. The hit is FOX’s The Following which debuted to strong ratings and even improved its numbers with its second episode. The flop, by all appearances, looks to be NBC’s Do No Harm which had it bow this last week in the Thursday 10 PM EST timeslot. The episode pulled only a 0.9 rating in the 18-49 demographic and 3.1 million total viewers. Those are marginal numbers for a CW show and are definitely unacceptable for one of the big four broadcast networks, especially NBC which is currently surging and doesn’t want any dead weight on its schedule. Apparently that network’s waning Thursday comedy block provided a poor lead-in, and I don’t know that the network promoted the show too well either. And the 10 PM timeslot that they gave to Do No Harm is not a particularly good one to begin with. You would think that the network might try to reschedule the show to a better timeslot where it might have a bit more of a chance, or maybe put it back on the wraps and wait to try and pair it with Friday night hit Grimm when that show returns next month. You would think. But television networks typically don’t work that way, especially the big four among the broadcast networks. At best, the show gets one more or maybe two more episodes in its current timeslot, then they will likely boot it from the schedule. Now it’s not impossible that they then kick it to Friday nights where shows on the way out usually get cast to burn off their episodes. And if that means pairing up with Grimm, that could work in its favor. But it may just get pulled from the schedule all together and may get a Summer burn off or only air its episodes online. All of that remains to be seen, but expect some quick movement on the part of NBC (not in the show’s favor) in the coming week or so. And definitely don’t get attached to this one.
On last Wednesday, Arrow slipped to its lowest numbers of the season pulling only a 0.9 rating in the 18-49 demo and right at three million total viewers. It’s a CW show, so it’s hard to determine what that means, but let’s hope this doesn’t indicate a mid-season swoon. Supernatural stayed on par with the numbers it has been pulling (0.9 rating) and ABC’s The Neighbors dropped back down again to a 1.6 rating. On Thursday, Person of Interest returned from two weeks of repeats with good numbers pulling a 3.2 rating and approaching sixteen million total viewers. On Friday, Nikita slipped back a tick to a 0.4 rating.
I covered the early week shows in my mid-week column last week and you can see the numbers for all of last week’s shows below. You can keep an eye on the Cancellation Watch Twitter Site for the early returns from this week’s shows 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.
Ratings Results for the Week of Jan 27:
Once Upon A Time (ABC Sun 8 PM) Rating: Preempted | Trend: Down | Cancellation Alert: Low
The Walking Dead (AMC Sun 9 PM) Rating: On Hiatus | Trend: Steady | Cancellation Alert: Renewed
The Following (FOX Mon 9 PM) Rating: 3.3 | Trend: Up | Cancellation Alert: Low
Being Human (Syfy Mon 9 PM) Rating: 0.6 | Trend: Up | Cancellation Alert: Low
Arrow (CW Wed 8 PM) Rating: 0.9 | Trend: Down | Cancellation Alert: Low
The Neighbors (ABC Wed 9:30 PM) Rating: 1.6 | Trend: Down | Cancellation Alert: Moderate
Supernatural (CW Wed 9 PM) Rating: 0.9 | Trend: Steady | Cancellation Alert: Low
Vampire Diaries (CW Thu 8 PM) Rating: 1.3 | Trend: Steady | Cancellation Alert: Low
Person of Interest (CBS Thu 9 PM) Rating: 3.2 | Trend: Steady | Cancellation Alert: Low
Beauty and the Beast (CW Thu 9 PM) Rating: 0.7 | Trend: Steady | Cancellation Alert: Moderate
Do No Harm (NBC Thu 10 PM) Rating: 0.9 | Trend: n/a | Cancellation Alert: High
Nikita (CW Fri 9 PM) Rating: 0.4 | Trend: Down | Cancellation Alert: Moderate
Revolution and Grimm will resume in March. Lost Girl and Continuum not as heavily tied to U.S. ratings
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.
