After a dubious start and ever-sinking ratings, The CW has given up on the Rockne S. O’Bannon (Farscape) created series Cult. After debuting with only a paltry 0.3 rating in the 18-49 demographic, the network quickly cast the show to Friday nights where it sunk even further. One episode on that night sunk to only a 0.1 rating, lower than some airings that same day of twenty year old repeats of Barney. Cult is now officially getting pulled from the schedule and may get the opportunity to air out its remaining episodes online. O’Bannon tweeted the following confirmation of the cancellation:
“Sadly true. CW Execs once called the last 5 episodes “outstanding”. I guess too outstanding. You are great, SMART fans. Thx to u all!”
It’s a shame because it was a pretty decent show, but its struggling network did not position it very well, putting the odds against it out of the gate. Check back here for a for a more in depth post mortem on the show in the next week or so.
As I predicted last week, A&E went ahead and announced an early renewal for their Psycho prequel series Bates Motel this week. That show started up with a 1.3 rating in the 18-49 demo which represented good numbers for its cable network and it managed to hold onto its audience for its first few weeks. A&E felt like that was a strong enough performance for their new series and decided to go ahead and greenlight more episodes. This last Monday’s installment slipped to a 1.0 rating with 2.3 million total viewers, but that’s still a decent showing for that network.
Syfy announced the renewal of their supernatural series Being Human, based on the BBC series of the same name, giving it the go ahead for a fourth season of episodes. That show has hovered around a 0.5 rating throughout its third season which is not a particularly strong showing, but its network considers it a decent enough performance for this relatively low-budget series. It’s Season 3 finale aired on Monday pulling a 0.5 rating in the 18-49 demo with just over one million total viewers.
Also on Monday, NBC’s Revolution managed to halt it ratings slide, though it didn’t improve its numbers either. It’s latest episode pulled a 2.2 rating in the 18-49 demo with just over six million total viewers. It’s still the network’s highest rated scripted show based on season to date averages, so it has a good chance of returning for a second season. On FOX, The Following pulled a 2.2 rating with 6.3 million total viewers on Monday. That show has already been renewed for a second season. And on Sunday, ABC ran a repeat of Once Upon A Time.
Keep an eye on the Cancellation Watch Twitter Site for the early numbers for the rest of 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 Source: TV by the Numbers
Nielsen TV Ratings: ©2013 The Nielsen Company. All Rights Reserved.
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