FX’s Legion returned last week for its second season and ABC’s The Crossing had it series debut, and both posted ratings numbers that are on the low side for their networks causing them to start off in the lower half of the rankings. Legion enters the Scorecard this week at Number 33 and The Crossing enters at Number 27. The latter show I started out On the Bubble, and I believe Legion still has a chance at renewal at this point if its numbers do not drop much. In other movement of note, Freeform’s Siren slipped three slots (from Number 8 to Number 11), but it is still looking good for its network at this point. Most of the rest of the movement this week was incidental and you can see the full rankings below.
The scorecard ranks all of the sci fi and fantasy shows’ ratings performance vs. their network’s ratings benchmark (see definition below). Shows at or above their benchmark should be okay, whereas those slipping notably below are getting into iffy territory.
Scorecard rankings based on the ratings through April 8th (metric definitions below):
| Rank (PW) | Series | Net | Std Avg | Net Bench | % Var | Live+7 Avg Rtg | Status |
| 1 (1) | The Walking Dead (O) | AMC | 3.39 | 0.50 | 577.7% | 5.73 | Renewed |
| 2 (2) | American Horror Story (O) | FX | 1.10 | 0.50 | 120.7% | 2.47 | Renewed |
| 3 (3) | Krypton | Syfy | 0.34 | 0.17 | 98.0% | n/a | Renewal Possible |
| 4 (4) | The Flash (O) | CW | 0.76 | 0.40 | 90.9% | 1.64 | Renewed |
| 5 (5) | Outlander | Starz | 0.32 | 0.20 | 59.6% | 0.60 | Renewed |
| 6 (6) | Ghosted (O) | FOX | 1.60 | 1.02 | 57.2% | n/a | On the Bubble |
| 7 (7) | The Magicians (O) | Syfy | 0.26 | 0.17 | 54.3% | 0.60 | Renewal Likely |
| 8 (9) | Supernatural (O) | CW | 0.58 | 0.40 | 44.9% | 0.98 | Renewed |
| 8 (11) | Supergirl (O) | CW | 0.58 | 0.40 | 44.9% | 1.01 | Renewed |
| 10 (10) | Black Lightning (O) | CW | 0.57 | 0.40 | 44.4% | 1.10 | Renewed |
| 11 (8) | Siren | Freeform | 0.27 | 0.20 | 32.5% | n/a | Renewal Possible |
| 12 (12) | Happy (O) | Syfy | 0.21 | 0.17 | 24.3% | 0.55 | Renewed |
| 13 (13) | Riverdale (O) | CW | 0.45 | 0.40 | 13.4% | 1.10 | Renewed |
| 14 (14) | Legends of Tomorrow (O) | CW | 0.41 | 0.40 | 4.0% | 1.03 | Renewed |
| 15 (15) | Arrow (O) | CW | 0.40 | 0.40 | 0.8% | 0.97 | Renewed |
| 16 (16) | Z Nation | Syfy | 0.17 | 0.17 | 0.5% | 0.37 | Renewed |
| 17 (17) | The Orville (O) | FOX | 1.00 | 1.02 | -1.7% | 2.15 | Renewed |
| 18 (18) | The X-Files (O) | FOX | 0.95 | 1.02 | -6.7% | n/a | Final Season |
| 19 (19) | Shadowhunters (O) | Freeform | 0.18 | 0.20 | -8.3% | n/a | Renewal Possible |
| 20 (20) | The Good Place (O) | NBC | 1.04 | 1.19 | -12.2% | 1.95 | Renewed |
| 21 (21) | Final Space (O) | TBS | 0.26 | 0.30 | -14.7% | n/a | Renewal Possible |
| 22 (23) | The Gifted (O) | FOX | 0.85 | 1.02 | -16.5% | 2.08 | Renewed |
| 23 (22) | The Last Man on Earth (O) | FOX | 0.83 | 1.02 | -18.1% | n/a | On the Bubble |
| 24 (24) | MacGyver (O) (F) | CBS | 0.89 | 1.12 | -20.7% | n/a | Renewal Possible |
| 25 (25) | Lucifer | FOX | 0.80 | 1.02 | -21.4% | 1.17 | Renewal Possible |
| 26 (26) | Stan Against Evil | IFC | 0.06 | 0.08 | -21.9% | n/a | Renewed |
| 27 (n/a) | The Crossing (O) | ABC | 0.90 | 1.19 | -24.2% | n/a | On the Bubble |
| 28 (27) | Van Helsing | Syfy | 0.13 | 0.17 | -25.8% | 0.30 | Renewed |
| 29 (28) | The Librarians | TNT | 0.29 | 0.40 | -27.5% | 0.60 | Cancelled |
| 30 (29) | Mr Robot (O) | USA | 0.22 | 0.30 | -28.0% | 0.44 | Renewed |
| 31 (30) | Gotham | FOX | 0.70 | 1.02 | -31.2% | 1.54 | Renewal Possible |
| 32 (31) | iZombie (O) | CW | 0.24 | 0.40 | -39.5% | n/a | Renewal Possible |
| 33 (n/a) | Legion (O) | FX | 0.30 | 0.50 | -40.0% | n/a | Renewal Possible |
| 34 (32) | Timeless (O) | NBC | 0.68 | 1.19 | -43.0% | n/a | On the Bubble |
| 35 (33) | Superstition | Syfy | 0.09 | 0.17 | -48.5% | n/a | Cancellation Likely |
| 36 (34) | Channel Zero (O) | Syfy | 0.09 | 0.17 | -49.0% | n/a | Renewed |
| 37 (35) | Ghost Wars | Syfy | 0.09 | 0.17 | -49.8% | n/a | Cancellation Likely |
| 38 (36) | The Inhumans (O) (F) | ABC | 0.59 | 1.19 | -50.7% | 1.13 | Cancellation Likely |
| 38 (37) | Kevin Probably Saves the World (O) | ABC | 0.59 | 1.19 | -50.7% | 0.97 | Cancellation Likely |
| 40 (38) | Agents of SHIELD (O) (F) | ABC | 0.56 | 1.19 | -52.5% | 1.33 | Renewal Possible |
| 41 (39) | Counterpart | Starz | 0.09 | 0.20 | -53.0% | n/a | Renewed |
| 42 (40) | The Shannara Chronicles (O) | Spike | 0.09 | 0.20 | -54.3% | 0.30 | Cancelled |
| 43 (41) | Beyond | Freeform | 0.09 | 0.20 | -56.7% | n/a | Cancelled |
| 44 (42) | The Exorcist (O) (F) | FOX | 0.42 | 1.02 | -58.7% | 0.60 | Cancellation Likely |
| 45 (44) | Once Upon A Time (O) (F) | ABC | 0.47 | 1.19 | -60.7% | 1.07 | Cancelled |
| 46 (43) | Ash vs Evil Dead | Starz | 0.08 | 0.20 | -62.1% | n/a | On the Bubble |
| 47 (45) | Dirk Gentlys Holistic Detective Agency | BBCA | 0.07 | 0.30 | -76.7% | n/a | Cancelled |
Metric Definitions:
Rank (PW): Current rank based on the variance of a show’s season to date ratings average vs. its network’s benchmark (see definition below). The number in parenthesis is the prior week’s rank. Note that shows on the streaming services are not included because of insufficient viewership data and foreign imports like Doctor Who will not be included because they rely more heavily on their viewership in their home countries.
Series: (O) indicates the show is owned or co-owned by the network and/or a sister studio. (F) indicates the show airs on Friday when ratings expectations are lower on the broadcast networks.
StD Avg: The show’s season to date ratings average based on the overnights for the 18-49 demographic.
Net Bench: (Network Benchmark) For the broadcast networks, this is the net’s season to date average rating based on the overnights for the 18-49 demographic for non-sports, non-special, non-repeat broadcasts. For the cable channels, this is the lowest level at which a show is typically renewed by that network if there are enough genre entries on that channel to provide a decent sample. But note that with cable entries intangibles such as international and/or streaming partnerships can play an important factor in a shows survival and that is not measured here.
% Var: The percent variance between a show’s season to date average and the network benchmark as defined above. The higher the variance, the better a show is performing vs. the benchmark.
Live+7 Avg Rtg: The show’s season to date ratings average based on delayed viewing up to three days past the live broadcast. This data is not available for all shows.
Status: My assessment of the likelihood that a show will get renewed or cancelled. The statuses are Renewal Likely, Renewal Possible, On the Bubble, Cancellation Likely (plus Renewed and Cancelled/Ended)
Ratings Source: ShowBuzzDaily and TV by the Numbers
