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.
Season Premiere: On Wednesday, The CW’s The 100 returned for its second season but bowed to some pretty tepid numbers. The show could only pull a 0.5 rating in the 18-49 demo with 1.5 million total viewers which matches the series low that the show had with its Season 1 finale. The 100 originally premiered in Spring with a 0.9 rating which is decent for a CW show, but it saw its numbers steadily decline from there. However, The CW was hit particularly hard by the ratings slump all the broadcast networks suffered from during the second half of the 2013-14 season, and they decided to go ahead and give The 100 the greenlight for a second year despite its ratings drop-off. Likely, though, they were expecting it to rebound this season, as have most of that network’s shows. But the 0.5 score has it back at its low point, and that can’t be encouraging from the point of view of the network executives. The good news is that the show airs on the fifth place network and they likely won’t make any snap decisions on the show. So that gives it the Fall to try and build back up its audience (and it has been getting really good buzz from the entertainment press and sci fi fans alike). The bad news is that The CW has several shows waiting in the wings and only ten hours a week worth of programming time. So if The 100 does not improve its numbers (which will definitely present an uphill battle), then it could get pulled in favor of one of the mid-season replacements The CW has in the queue like iZombie or The Messengers. The next few weeks will be crucial to the show, and the fanbase has already demonstrated a a strong online presence which can only help the show (it ranked at Number 2 in the Nielsen Twitter Ratings for Wednesday). But ultimately those ratings have to improve for the show to continue on beyond its current season order.
Additional Episode Orders: The CW’s The Flash received an order for ten more episodes this week which will bring its total to 23 for its first season, one more than the typical 22. That comes as no surprise seeing as the show has delivered the best ratings that network has seen in quite a while, and I expect this one to speed its way into a second season. Also receiving an order for more episodes was ABC’s Resurrection, but only one additional installment has been requested at this point. I’m not sure if this show was targeted for only a thirteen episode season like some of the broadcast nets have been doing lately (see Sleepy Hollow and Hannibal), but with the recent ratings downturn for Resurrection, I have to wonder it they might be looking at that as a possible series finale episode for the show. Whether intended or not, it may work out to the de facto final episode if the show doesn’t get its numbers back up (it slipped to only a 1.4 rating in the 18-49 demo this past Sunday). And Once Upon A Time will be getting an additional hour added to its fourth season as one of that show’s November episodes has been expanded to a two hour running time. That show looks like a lock for a fifth season based on its ratings revival this year.
Following are the full ratings results (metric definitions below) for the Tuesday thru Thursday shows with my comments. And keep an eye on the Cancelled Sci Fi Twitter Site for the latest numbers and any breaking news. For more information on where I get these numbers and how I make my Cancellation Alert assessments, check out the Cancelled Sci Fi FAQ.
The Flash CW Tue 10/21 8 PM
Rating: 1.5 | Tot Viewers (MM): 3.6 | StD Rating: 1.7 | Target: 0.9 | Cancellation Alert: Low
Yes, it keeps slipping, but it’s still the highest rated show on The CW by far. Expect it to finally level out somewhere in the 1.2 rating range which is still quite good these days for the fifth place network.
Agents of SHIELD ABC Tue 10/21 9 PM
Rating: 1.6 | Tot Viewers (MM): 4.4 | StD Rating: 1.8 | Target: 2.2 | Cancellation Alert: Moderate
I don’t see how this show can hang on with these numbers, especially considering its high production costs. It may ask for a mulligan due to the World Series, but I don’t think that was a huge factor. They better have some big things planned over the next few weeks to try and and bring the ratings up to at least a respectable level.
Supernatural CW Tue 10/21 9 PM
Rating: 0.9 | Tot Viewers (MM): 2.1 | StD Rating: 1.0 | Target: 0.9 | Cancellation Alert: Low
It slipped a bit from last week, but it’s still doing well for its network.
Forever ABC Tue 10/21 10 PM
Rating: 1.2 | Tot Viewers (MM): 5.0 | StD Rating: 1.3 | Target: 2.0 | Cancellation Alert: Medium
It improved one tick from last week, but that’s not saying much. Interestingly, this show has been getting good marks from fans and critics, so how come nobody is tuning in? (Insert your comments here about how the Nielsens do not accurately measure viewership.)
Person of Interest CBS Tue 10/21 10 PM
Rating: 1.5 | Tot Viewers (MM): 9.4 | StD Rating: 1.6 | Target: 1.8 | Cancellation Alert: Low
This show stabilized for the week, but at a pretty low level. The total viewers should be enough to keep it in the Top 25, though, so it should still be safe for now.
Arrow CW Wed 10/22 8 PM
Rating: 0.9 | Tot Viewers (MM): 2.6 | StD Rating: 0.9 | Target: 0.9 | Cancellation Alert: Low
This show actually improved a tick from last week and I expect it to hold around this level for now as it coasts into a fourth season.
The 100 CW Wed 10/22 9 PM
Rating: 0.5 | Tot Viewers (MM): 1.5 | StD Rating: 0.5 | Target: 0.9 | Cancellation Alert: Moderate
Everything I have heard about the Season 2 premiere has been good and the show trended to the Number 2 slot on the Nielsen Twitter Ratings for Wednesday. So where are the viewers? (Insert even more comments here about how the Nielsens do not accurately measure viewership.)
American Horror Story FX Wed 10/22 10 PM
Rating: 2.2 | Tot Viewers (MM): 4.4 | StD Rating: 2.5 | Target: 1.0 | Cancellation Alert: Renewed
It slipped a bit again, but I expect it to hold at about this level through the rest of its fourth season. And it has already been given the greenlight for a fifth year.
Vampire Diaries CW Thu 10/23 8 PM
Rating: 0.8 | Tot Viewers (MM): 1.7 | StD Rating: 0.8 | Target: 0.9 | Cancellation Alert: Low
This one held steady with last week which should be fine for The CW. It was once that network’s flagship series, but The Flash has since sped past it.
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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 and ShowBuzzDaily
Nielsen TV Ratings: ©2014 The Nielsen Company. All Rights Reserved.
