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.
Ratings Results of Interest: On Sunday, AMC’s Fear the Walking Dead returned from its mid-season hiatus, but its numbers were down to a series low at a 1.6 rating rating based on the overnights for the 18-49 demographic with 3.9 million total viewers. It did have to go up against the Olympics closing ceremonies, but that pulled lower ratings than the typical night of Olympics coverage and The Walking Dead never blinked when it had to go up against top-rated NFL games. Still, FtWD was the highest rated show on cable for the night and second highest rated overall among non-Olympics programming (behind NBC’s The Voice), and it has already been renewed for a third season. TNT’s The Last Ship picked up speed and improved almost a full tick to a 0.57 rating w/2.3 million total viewers despite strong competition on the night. On Friday, Syfy’s Dark Matter improved a bit to a 0.19 rating w/660k total viewers and Killjoys held mostly steady at a 0.17 rating with 600k total viewers. Both of those look to have a decent chance of surviving to a third season. On Wednesday, USA’s Mr. Robot improved slightly to a 0.25 rating with 650k total viewers. That one has already been renewed for a third season.
Ratings results for the sci fi / fantasy shows airing Monday August 15th thru Sunday August 21st (metric definitions below):
(Links are to the show pages on this site with season to date ratings results and status updates)
| Series | Airs | Rating | % Chng | Tot Viewers | STD Avg | Net Avg | Cancel Alert |
| Zoo | CBS, Tue 10 PM | 0.7 | +16.7% | 4.0 | 0.7 | 1.5 | Renewed |
| Scream | MTV, Tue 10 PM | 0.2 | +5.6% | 0.3 | 0.2 | n/a | Low |
| Mr Robot | USA, Wed 10 PM | 0.3 | +13.6% | 0.7 | 0.3 | n/a | Renewed |
| Beauty and the Beast | CW, Thu 9 PM | Preempted | n/a | n/a | 0.2 | 0.6 | Final Season |
| Killjoys | Syfy, Fri 9 PM | 0.2 | -5.6% | 0.6 | 0.2 | n/a | Moderate |
| Outcast | CIN, Fri 10 PM | Season Ended | n/a | n/a | 0.1 | n/a | Renewed |
| Dark Matter | Syfy, Fri 10 PM | 0.2 | +18.8% | 0.7 | 0.2 | n/a | Moderate |
| Fear the Walking Dead | AMC, Sun 9 PM | 1.6 | n/a | 3.9 | 2.2 | n/a | Renewed |
| The Last Ship | TNT, Sun 9 PM | 0.6 | +18.8% | 2.3 | 0.5 | n/a | Renewed |
| Braindead | CBS, Sun 10 PM | 0.3 | 0.0% | 1.8 | 0.4 | 1.5 | Elevated |
Chart Activity: Fear The Walking Dead returned to the Weekly Nielsen Twitter Rating Top 10 for as expected, but pretty low at the Number 10 slot. Whether it can stay on that chart next week remains to be seen. That one was at Number 1 in the cable Top 25 based on the overnights for 18-49 demographic and Number 2 based on total viewers (neck and neck with Rizzoli & Isles at 3,867k vs. 3,864k). The Last Ship made it into the cable Top 25 based on total viewers for the first time during its third season at the Number 22 slot. Zoo slipped to Number 24 in the broadcast net Top 25 based on total viewers (down from Number 20).
(Updated for the broadcast network and cable Top 25 chart activity)
| Series | Chart | Curr Wk Rank | Prior Wk Rank |
| Fear the Walking Dead | Nielsen Twitter Ratings Top 10 | 10 | n/a |
| Fear the Walking Dead | Cable Top 25 (18-49 Demo) | 1 | n/a |
| Fear the Walking Dead | Cable Top 25 (Total Viewers) | 2 | n/a |
| The Last Ship | Cable Top 25 (Total Viewers) | 22 | n/a |
| Zoo | Broadcast Net Top 25 (Total Viewers) | 24 | 20 |
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
