Beyond Heads to the Great Beyond
Freeform announced last night that its paranormal series Beyond will not be returning for a third season. That news does not come as a big surprise considering its low viewership this year, and I have had it On the Bubble (leaning toward Cancellation Likely) since it returned in January. In its first season, Freeform released the entire run online at the same time as its linear debut, and the network claimed 14 million people watched the show in its first week (numbers that seem somewhat skewed to me). It did not follow that same strategy this year and the show averaged only a 0.09 rating based on same day viewing for the 18-49 demographic and 254K total viewers across its second season run, lower than its first season linear average of a 0.14 rating and 484K total viewers. Freeform had cancelled its sci fi procedural Stitchers last year at slightly higher viewership levels, so it seemed like a good bet that Beyond would get the ax this year. I did consider the possibility that digital viewing could have been better for Beyond based on the network’s viewership claims from the first season, but those numbers were never shared for its second season that I saw. I have not seen much in the way of fan support for Beyond on the social networks, but if there is a fanbase out there, they should get active with a Call to Action if they want to try to lobby another network or one of the streaming services to pick the show up.
Beyond centers on a young man named Holden Matthews who wakes up from a twelve-year coma to discover that he now has exceptional abilities. He also finds himself thrust into the middle of a dangerous conspiracy. It is executive produced by Tim Kring and stars Burkely Duffield, Dilan Gwyn, Jordan Calloway, Jonathan Whitesell.
Expect more renewal and cancellation announcements as we head into the final two months of the current season, and be sure to keep an eye on this site as well as the Cancelled Sci Fi Twitter Site for updates and breaking news.
Ratings Results of Interest: Krypton Remains Strong for Syfy
On Wednesday, Syfy’s Krypton slipped to a 0.30 rating based on same day viewing for the 18-49 demographic with 1.1 million total viewers for its second episode. The drop was expected because the premieres for comic book based shows tend to draw a fair amount of curious onlookers. But I had expected the show to drop further, closer to a 0.25 score. At this level, it remains Syfy’s top-rated show and paired with The Magicians–which pulled a 0.28 rating and 732K total viewers on the night–it gives the network the highest-rated two hour block it has seen in a while. Over on The CW, Riverdale slipped to a 0.3 rating with 962K total viewers. But that one was possibly impacted by the return of Empire on FOX and it regularly shows up in the Weekly Nielsen Social Network Top 10, so it should be safe for now.
On Tuesday, Freeform’s Shadowhunters slipped to a 0.16 rating with 444K total viewers for its second Season 3 episode. That show already returned down from where it was last year and its numbers continue to slip, but it is still one of the network’s higher rated scripted shows. It does have a strong fanbase who are very active on the social networks, so a Call to Action from them could help improve the show’s prospects. On Monday, The CW’s iZombie remained low at a 0.2 rating with 715K total viewers. I believe the network will bring that one back for at least one more year, but support from the fans could help nudge them in that direction.
Be sure to follow the Cancelled Sci Fi Twitter Site for the latest results and to stay tuned as we approach the countdown to season end in May. Ratings Source: ShowBuzzDaily
