Ratings results and status updates on all the currently airing sci fi & fantasy shows as well as those still awaiting word on their fates. For the latest ratings updates, be sure to follow the Cancelled Sci Fi Twitter Site
Ratings Results of Interest: Syfy’s season-long horror anthology series Channel Zero wrapped up its fourth season “binge-run” last week and it appears the show is done at this point. The episodes that aired Monday through Wednesday had a 0.04 rating, a 0.06 rating, and a 0.07 rating respectively. And overall the show averaged a 0.07 score for its fourth season, down by 36% from its already low Season 3 numbers. On top of all that, Syfy aired the show outside of Prime Time in the 11 PM EST hour. So by all appearances, this was just a burn-off run and it is highly unlikely it will be back for another season. If there are any fans out there, they should take to the social networks to support the show as maybe that will draw the interest of another venue that might be willing to take a flyer on the series.
On Sunday, Starz’s Outlander returned for its fourth season but only managed a 0.21 rating based on same day viewing for the 18-49 demographic with 1.1 million total viewers on a very competitive Sunday night. That ratings score is down by 28% from the show’s third season, but Starz does not look as closely at the same day viewing since it is one of the pay channels. They take into account encore viewings and online activity to fully measure how a show is performing. And this one has already been renewed through a sixth season so it is safe. Over on AMC, The Walking Dead got a boost from the final appearance of Rick Grimes as that one improved to a 2.1 rating with 5.4 million total viewers. Doctor Who did not do so well on the night as that one dropped to a 0.20 rating with 685K total viewers. But that show is in no danger of getting cancelled.
On the broadcast nets on Sunday, CBS’s God Friended Me improved slightly from last week’s season low to a 0.8 rating with 7.4 million total viewers. It should still land in the Top 25 this week based on total viewers, so I believe it will be okay for now despite its flagging ratings in the demo. On The CW, Supergirl held at a 0.4 rating with 1.2 million total viewers and Charmed held at a 0.3 rating with 959K total viewers as both of those continue to do decent for the fifth place network on Sunday nights.
On Friday, NBC’s Midnight, Texas remained low at a 0.4 rating with two million total viewers. That one is firmly On the Bubble and will be moving to Cancellation Likely status if it does not see any improvement. Over on Syfy Van Helsing held steadily low at a 0.10 rating with 457K total viewers while Z Nation slipped to a 0.11 score with 457K total viewers. The former show is close to getting pushed to Bubble status and the latter may join it as well. On CBS, MacGyver rebounded from the hit it took last week against World Series coverage and posted a 0.8 rating with 6.1 million total viewers.
On Thursday, The CW’s Legacies improved slightly to a 0.4 rating with with 1.1 million total viewers. If it can hold around that level, I can see the network giving it a second season. On Wednesday, IFC’s Stan Against Evil had a 0.03 rating with 105K total viewers for its Season 3 debut. That’s down notably from last year, but it may have taken a hit due to Halloween and could rebound this week. Over on FX, American Horror Story did not fair so well on Halloween either as it dropped to a 0.74 rating with 1.6 million total viewers. But it has already been renewed through its tenth season. The CW’s Riverdale took the night off.
On Tuesday, FOX’s The Gifted remained low at a 0.6 rating with two million total viewers. That show is On the Bubble and fans need to start making some noise on the social nets to support it. On The CW, Black Lightning slipped back to a 0.3 rating with one million total viewers and I continue to question whether that one has the power to get to a third season. The other CW shows on Tuesday and Monday held even with their prior week numbers and Manifest was preempted for the week.
You can see the full ratings results for the week at this link, and be sure to follow the Cancelled Sci Fi Twitter Site for the latest results and breaking news. Ratings Source: ShowBuzzDaily
What’s to watch on the Streaming Services? Click on the following links for a comprehensive list of the Sci Fi TV Shows available on Netflix | Prime Video | Hulu | Other
News Roundup: AMC is working on three Walking Dead TV movies as well as possibly more additions to that franchise. Lantern Capitol has acquired the rights to Scream Season 3 after the bankruptcy of The Weinstein Company which means it may actually make it to the air in the next few months. Showtime has ordered another installment of its horror series Penny Dreadful to be titled “City of Angels”. The show’s creator and writer John Logan will be returning to the series. Netflix has renewed its animated horror series Castlevania for a third season which will comprise ten episodes. In development news, BBC America has ordered The Watch based on Terry Pratchett’s Discworld novels, and the first Game of Thrones prequel will be titled The Long Night. More on these and other sci fi TV development at this link.
Status Updates: Stan Against Evil Received a Trick on Halloween Night
Below is the status of all the currently airing shows or those still awaiting word on their fate. This does not include streaming shows, unless there is information worth mentioning, because there is typically too little data available to gauge their fates. You can click through to the show pages to see week-over-week ratings results (where available) and find out more information about the series. You can see the status of all the currently airing and returning sci fi TV shows at the Cancellation Watch Page.
American Horror Story (FX, Status – Renewed): This show has returned with decent debut numbers for its eighth season and remains one of the highest rated cable shows on television. FX has already renewed it through its tenth season and could keep it around longer if it continues to draw strong viewership.
Arrow (CW, Status – Renewal Possible): This show has returned down a bit from last year’s numbers and it is almost certainly looking at wrapping up sooner rather than later. Whether it comes back for an eighth season depends on how The CW decides to proceed with its Arrow-verse shows.
Black Lightning (CW, Status – Renewal Possible): The numbers are down for this show in its second year and it will not have too many episodes under its belt by season end. The CW prefers to renew shows rather than cancel them, but with the waning popularity of its superhero entries, this one could be the first casualty if its ratings remain low.
Channel Zero (Syfy, Status – Cancellation Likely): By all appearances, this one looks to be a dead show walking. Its ratings have been on a continual decline across its four seasons, and Syfy burned off the fourth year episodes across six consecutive nights outside of Prime Time. The show has stirred up some good buzz and has picked up a small but loyal following, but Syfy has been in the cancelling business of late and it looks like this one could be the next to fall. Fans could try to make some noise on the social nets to see if another venue might be interested in picking the show up, though.
Charmed (CW, Status – Renewal Possible): The CW might have hoped that this would have been their next big thing, but the early ratings are not that good. Still, it is performing well enough in its highly competitive Sunday night timeslot and should charm its way to a second season if it does not slip any further.
Doctor Who (BBCA, Status – Renewal Likely): This show is off to a strong start with the thirteenth Doctor (played by Jodie Whitakker) drawing in plenty of viewers to see the first female lead for the series. The numbers have slipped now that the curious onlooker effect has passed, but expect this show to stick around for several more years.
The Flash (CW, Status – Renewal Likely): The momentum for this one has slowed some with its continued ratings declines, but it is still the network’s top-rated show and it should race right into a sixth season.
The Gifted (FOX, Status – Renewal Possible): This show is at series low numbers and it is not getting the same lift from delayed viewing that it was seeing last year. FOX owns the show and it is part of the X-Men franchise, but at these levels it has to be counted as On the Bubble and fans should take to the social networks to try and give it a boost.
God Friended Me (CBS, Status – Renewal Possible): This show’s numbers in the 18-49 demo have slipped of late, but it continues to rank in the Top 25 based on total viewers each week. It has received a full season pickup, and if it can continue to post good total viewers stats (older-skewing CBS tends to give more weight to those numbers), then it may survive to a second season.
The Good Place (NBC, Status – Renewal Possible): This show returned down from its second season average, but it is still doing well enough for an NBC show on Thursday nights. If it holds around its current levels, it should be okay.
Humans (AMC, Status – On the Bubble): This show’s numbers were down in its third season, and AMC kicked it out of Prime Time to the 11 PM hour; never a good sign. Its fate is more closely tied to how it is performing in Britain on Channel 4, but its numbers are down over there as well according to Wikipedia. I have moved it to Bubble status and will keep it there until we hear final word on its fate.
Into the Badlands (AMC, Status – On the Bubble): This show wrapped up the first half of its third season in June and there is still no word on when it will be back, leading me to wonder if AMC has given up on it (more on that at this link). Its ratings are down over fifty percent from its second year and it remains firmly On the Bubble at this point. Fans should definitely make a Call to Action on the social networks to show that it has a loyal following.
The Last Ship (TNT, Status – Final Season): This show has had a decent run for TNT, but its numbers have dropped off the last couple of years. The network did decide to bring it back for a fifth and final season to give it a chance to wrap up its storylines.
Legacies (CW, Status – Renewal Possible): This show improved some with its second episode and if it can hold around these levels it may be okay for a CW entry. Fans may want to take to the social nets to give it a boost, though.
Legends of Tomorrow (CW, Status – Renewal Possible): This show has started out its fourth season at series low levels, but I believe it is still safe for now. This is the one that can pick up characters from other Arrow-verse shows if the network decides to start trimming down on those. Plus, once a show gets through its third season on this network it usually sticks around for at least 70 episodes (it will be just shy of that at the end of this year), and one more full season gets it to a syndication friendly count of episodes.
MacGyver (CBS, Status – Renewal Likely): This show has returned down from last year’s numbers, but that likely will not matter. It is owned by CBS and it will have three full seasons after this year, so it is worth it to the network to keep it going at least one more season to get it to the episode threshold the syndication market prefers. Also, it plugs up and hour on low-viewership Fridays.
Manifest (NBC, Status – Renewal Possible): This one pulled very strong numbers for its series premiere and has experienced only a modest drop since then. If it can hold at or above a 1.5 ratings average, then it will almost certainly fly right into a second season.
Midnight Texas (NBC, Status – On the Bubble): This show performed relatively well for a Summer entry when it debuted in July of last year, but shifting it to Fridays in Fall has done it no favors. It has started out as one of the network’s lowest rated shows and I have placed it On the Bubble. I know this one had a pretty dedicated fanbase in its first season, so they need to make some noise on the social nets if they want it to stick around.
Outlander (Starz, Status – Renewed): This show has returned down in its fourth season, but Starz pays less attention to the same day viewing and more to the total airings for the week plus online viewing. This is an established franchise for the network that performs well overseas and it has already been renewed through a sixth season.
The Purge (USA, Status – Renewal Possible): The debut numbers for this show were good, and it has not suffered too much from the loss of curious onlookers after the first episode. USA has billed this one as a “10-Episode Television Event”, but if the ratings hold around current levels the network may extend that.
Preacher (AMC, Status – On the Bubble): This show has wrapped its third season with ratings down by close to 40% from last year and I already considered it on iffy ground then. I have it On the Bubble and fans should definitely take to the social networks if they want this one to survive to a fourth season.
Reverie (NBC, Status – Cancellation Likely): This show has wrapped up its first season and is now awaiting word on its fate. It was originally planned for a mid-season start, but was pushed on the schedule suggesting that the network lost faith in it. Its numbers were pretty low even for a Summer entry, and it didn’t seem to generate much activity on the social networks. If there are any fans out there, they need to make some noise on the social nets RIGHT NOW to draw attention to the show, otherwise it seems certainly set for a date with the Network Executioner.
Riverdale (CW, Status – Renewal Likely): This show has returned about on par with last year’s numbers and it tends to get plenty of attention on the social networks. It also performs very well in its encore runs on Netflix and is on the verge of the syndication stretch. Expect it to be back for at least one more season if not more.
Salvation (CBS, Status – On the Bubble): This show’s numbers remained low through its now completed second season as do it chances of surviving to a third year. It has a streaming deal that likely makes it profitable for the network, but CBS may prefer to fill the hour with something that will draw more viewers watching live. I consider it firmly On the Bubble as we wait to hear word on the show’s fate.
Stan Against Evil (IFC, Status – Renewal Possible): This show returned notably down from last year’s numbers, but it may have taken a hit because its debut aired on Halloween. It has been one of IFC’s better-rated original series, so we will see if it rebounds with its next airing.
Star Wars Resistance (Disney, Status – Renewal Possible): This show’s numbers are on the low side, but then animated series tend to live and die more by their merchandising than overnight ratings results. This one could stick around for a few seasons if it sells enough toys.
Supergirl (CW, Status – Renewal Possible): This show returned close to last season’s average and has also done quite well for The CW’s first foray into Sunday night programming in a decade, especially considering how competitive that night is. If it doesn’t drop too much in the coming weeks, and if the network remains committed to its Arrow-verse shows, this one should soar into a fifth season.
Supernatural (CW, Status – Renewal Possible): This venerable genre entry has returned even with its average from last season and it remains one of the better-rated shows on The CW. The network boss has already said that this one will continue as long as the lead actors want to stay with the show, so whether it has a fifteenth season is largely up to them.
Van Helsing (Syfy, Status – Renewal Possible): This show’s numbers are down notably in its third season and it will find itself On the Bubble if it does not rebound. Since it is a third year show not owned by Syfy (the network tends to cancel those, more on that at this link), it needs to keep its numbers at least at or above the prior-season levels (it is currently below that) and fans need to make some noise on the social networks supporting it.
The Walking Dead (AMC, Status – Renewal Likely): This show is now down to series low levels (though it got a boost with its latest episode) and its ratings woes have caused AMC’s stock to slip. It is still one of the highest-rated series on television, but network bosses won’t like the fact that it is dragging down the stock prices. It won’t be cancelled this year, but it may be ending sooner rather than later which I look at in more detail at this link.
Z Nation (Syfy, Status – Renewal Possible): This show has slipped to series low levels, but it may still be on track for renewal. It is relatively inexpensive to produce and a sixth season gets it to a good episode count for a syndication run, so it could stick around another year. But fans should probably take to the social networks to show some support and to boost attention.
PREVIOUS POST: Legacies Starts Soft for The CW, Midnight Texas Returns Down READ
