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: FOX’s Summer series Wayward Pines returned for its second season last Wednesday, though it could only muster a 0.9 rating based on the overnights for the 18-49 demographic with 3.1 million total viewers. The bad news is that score matched its series low. The good news is that the drop of 18% from its prior season average is well within the range (maybe even ahead of the curve) with what we have been seeing with the ratings declines this past year. In Fall, FOX’s Gotham debuted with a 1.5 rating based on the overnights which was down 27% from its average for its first season. The Last Man on Earth was down 13% for its Fall premiere and Sleepy Hollow was down 33%. All three of those shows were renewed. Wayward Pines held pretty steady with its series premiere throughout its first season last Summer, so if it follows the same track this year then M. Night Shyamalan may get that third season he has planned to wrap up the story. But if the show slips too much and starts to get into the 0.6 or 0.5 range based on the overnights, I don’t like its chances of coming back next Summer. The next few weeks could be key to its survival, so be sure to keep a close eye on its numbers.
Syfy Slump: The numbers for Syfy’s original scripted shows remain weak, with its three Spring entries–12 Monkeys, Hunters, and Wynonna Earp–currently at some of the lowest levels that network has seen. 12 Monkeys counts–according to ShowbuzzDaily–as one of Syfy’s A-level shows, but it certainly is not performing to that level with a current season to date average of only a 0.11 score based on the overnights. Despite the fact that it is still getting good buzz in the sci fi community, I’m thinking it is going to follow the same two-seasons-and-out pattern as two of Syfy’s other recent low rated shows, Helix and Dominion. Hunters has only scrapped up a 0.09 season to date average based on the overnights and it has been universally lambasted (it currently has a 0% Fresh Rating on Rotten Tomatoes and a 34 Metascore on Metacritic). Plus it has been shifted to Mondays at midnight, so I’m thinking that show will follow last year’s Olympus to the TV Wasteland once it has finished its first season. Wynonna Earp currently has the best season to date average among the three at a 0.14 score based on the overnights, but that’s still nothing to be cheering about. It hasn’t shown much in the way of delayed viewing gains (more important to the cable channels than the broadcast nets) nor has it received much in the way of accolades. But it has developed a pretty vocal fanbase and it is also a relatively inexpensive series to produce. And since I am thinking that Syfy will not want to consider Spring a complete loss, that show is the one with the best chance to earn another season. Of course, a house-cleaning at this point is not impossible considering the recent shakeups at the network, but I still think Wynonna Earp has a chance of surviving that. The fans should definitely start making noise on the social nets in support of the show, though, because it can use any help it can get at this point. And 12 Monkeys fans should get active as well, lest that one comes to a halt at two seasons like other recent struggling Syfy entries.
Ratings results for the sci fi / fantasy shows airing Monday May 23rd thru Sunday May 29th (metric definitions below):
| Series | Airs | Rating | % Chng | Tot Viewers | STD Avg | Net Avg | Cancel Alert |
| Gotham | FOX, Mon 8 PM | 1.2 | -7.7% | 3.6 | 1.4 | 1.5 | Renewed |
| Houdini and Doyle | CBS, Mon 9 PM | 0.6 | -14.3% | 2.6 | 0.7 | 1.5 | Medium |
| 12 Monkeys | Syfy, Mon 9 PM | 0.1 | -33.3% | 0.4 | 0.1 | n/a | Moderate |
| Person of Interest | CBS, Mon 10 PM | 0.9 | -18.2% | 5.5 | 1.0 | 1.5 | Final Season |
| Hunters | Syfy, Mon 10 PM | 0.1 | 0.0% | 0.3 | 0.1 | n/a | Moderate |
| The Flash | CW, Tue 8 PM | 1.3 | 0.0% | 3.4 | 1.4 | 0.6 | Renewed |
| Agents of SHIELD | ABC, Tue 9 PM | Season Ended | n/a | n/a | 1.2 | 1.4 | Renewed |
| Containment | CW, Tue 9 PM | 0.5 | 0.0% | 1.4 | 0.5 | 0.6 | Renewed |
| Stitchers | Free, Tue 10 PM | 0.2 | 0.0% | 0.4 | 0.1 | n/a | Moderate |
| Person of Interest | CBS, Tue 10 PM | 0.9 | 0.0% | 5.1 | 1.0 | 1.5 | Final Season |
| Arrow | CW, Wed 8 PM | 0.8 | +14.3% | 2.2 | 0.9 | 0.6 | Renewed |
| Supernatural | CW, Wed 9 PM | 0.7 | +16.7% | 1.8 | 0.7 | 0.6 | Renewed |
| Wayward Pines | CW, Wed 9 PM | 0.9 | n/a | 3.1 | 0.9 | 0.6 | Renewed |
| Legends of Tomorrow | CW, Thu 8 PM | Season Ended | n/a | n/a | 0.8 | 0.6 | Renewed |
| The 100 | CW, Thu 9 PM | Season Ended | n/a | n/a | 0.5 | 0.6 | Renewed |
| Orphan Black | BBCA, Thu 10 PM | 0.1 | 0.0% | 0.3 | 0.1 | n/a | Low |
| The Originals | CW, Fri 9 PM | Season Ended | n/a | 0.9 | 0.4 | 0.6 | Renewed |
| Grimm | NBC, Fri 9 PM | Season Ended | n/a | 4.0 | 0.9 | 1.5 | Renewed |
| Wynonna Earp | Syfy, Fri 10 PM | 0.1 | -33.3% | 0.4 | 0.1 | n/a | Moderate |
| Outlander | Starz, Sat 9 PM | 0.2 | -8.3% | 1.1 | 0.3 | n/a | Low |
| Fear the Walking Dead | AMC, Sun 9 PM | On Hiatus | n/a | n/a | 2.2 | n/a | Renewed |
| Game of Thrones | HBO, Sun 9 PM | 3.3 | -17.9% | 6.7 | 3.7 | n/a | Renewed |
| Preacher (R) | AMC, Sun 10 PM | n/a | n/a | n/a | 0.9 | n/a | Low |
| Penny Dreadful | SHOW, Sun 10 PM | 0.2 | +17.6% | 0.7 | 0.2 | n/a | Low |
Links are to the show pages on this site where status updates and season to date numbers have been updated through Sunday.
Chart Activity: Game of Thrones slipped again in Weekly Nielsen Twitter Rating Top 10 from the Number 4 to the Number 5 slot for the week. Supernatural edged back onto the chart at Number 10 with its season finale after slipping out last week. Game of Thrones slipped to Number 4 on both the cable Top 25 charts (based on the ratings and on total viewers), but that was because it aired the Sunday before Memorial Day. It was only beat by NBA Playoff games, and HBO could really care less about the drop because they combine all the airings for the week plus the DVR and digital viewing to get their audience numbers since the pay channel does not have sponsors clamoring for its overnight results. Fear the Walking Dead fell off the charts because it is on hiatus until later in the Summer. The Flash and Gotham both made it onto the broadcast net Top 25 based on the overnights for the 18-49 demo with their season finales last week. And all three episodes of Person of Interest (it aired one additional ep last Tuesday along with its regular Monday and Tuesday showings) made it to the Top 25 for the week based on total viewers (good job, CBS, on cancelling that Top 25 performing show).
(Updated for the broadcast network and cable Top 25 chart activity)
| Series | Chart | Curr Wk Rank | Prior Wk Rank |
| Game of Thrones | Nielsen Twitter Ratings Top 10 | 5 | 4 |
| Game of Thrones | Cable Top 25 (18-49 Demo) | 4 | 1 |
| Game of Thrones | Cable Top 25 (Total Viewers) | 4 | 3 |
| Fear the Walking Dead | Cable Top 25 (18-49 Demo) | n/a | 9 |
| Fear the Walking Dead | Cable Top 25 (Total Viewers) | n/a | 8 |
| The Flash | Broadcast Net Top 25 (18-49 Demo) | 14 | n/a |
| Gotham | Broadcast Net Top 25 (18-49 Demo) | 17 | n/a |
| Person of Interest (Mon) | Broadcast Net Top 25 (Total Viewers) | 17 | n/a |
| Person of Interest (Tues 9 PM) | Broadcast Net Top 25 (Total Viewers) | 19 | n/a |
| Person of Interest (Tues) | Broadcast Net Top 25 (Total Viewers) | 24 | 20 |
| Supernatural | Nielsen Twitter Ratings Top 10 | 10 | n/a |
Be sure keep an eye out for the latest numbers and any breaking news throughout the week at the Cancelled Sci Fi Twitter Site. You can see the status of all the currently airing sci fi / fantasy shows at the Cancellation Watch page and also the latest Sci Fi TV Power Rankings post. And for more information on where I get these numbers and how I make my Cancellation Alert assessments, check out the Cancelled Sci Fi FAQ.
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Metric Definitions:
Series: (R) indicates a repeat airing
Rating: Overnight rating in the 18-49 demographic for same day viewing based on the final numbers unless otherwise noted
% Chng: The percentage change +/- for this week’s rating vs. last week’s rating (if a new episode aired last week).
Tot Viewers: Estimated total viewers (age 2+) to tune in to the episode for same day viewing.
StD Rating: Season to date average for the rating metric tracked above.
Net Avg: The season to date average rating for the network for non-sports, non-special, non-repeat programming. This data is available for the broadcast networks only.
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.
Source: ShowBuzzDaily and TV by the Numbers
