Starz’s Outlander slipped to a series low ratings mark this past Sunday which caused the show to take a tumble in the rankings this week, slipping seven slots from Number 8 to Number 16. I’m not concerned about that one, though, because the pay channels are less concerned with the same day viewing for a show and instead look at encore viewings during the same week as well as digital and delayed viewing. Plus, the show has already been renewed through its sixth season. In the Top 3, The CW’s The Flash moved ahead on American Horror Story this week as the superhero show took over the Number 2 slot. And IFC’s Stan Against Evil saw a slight improvement in its rankings as it climbed one to the Number 22 slot. Most of the rest of the movement for the week was just incidental. For the ratings coverage from this past week, be sure to check out our latest Weekly Roundup post.
The scorecard ranks all of the sci fi and fantasy shows’ ratings performance vs. their network’s ratings benchmark (see metric definitions 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 November 11th:
| Rank (PW) | Series | Net | Std Avg | Net Bench | % Var | Status |
| 1 (1) | The Walking Dead (O) | AMC | 2.07 | 0.50 | 314.7% | Renewal Likely |
| 2 (3) | The Flash (O) | CW | 0.73 | 0.35 | 108.3% | Renewal Likely |
| 3 (2) | American Horror Story (O) | FX | 0.98 | 0.50 | 95.1% | Renewed |
| 4 (4) | The Purge (O) | USA | 0.41 | 0.30 | 36.0% | Renewed |
| 5 (5) | Riverdale (O) | CW | 0.45 | 0.35 | 29.3% | Renewal Likely |
| 6 (6) | Manifest (O) | NBC | 1.54 | 1.27 | 21.5% | Renewal Possible |
| 7 (7) | Supernatural (O) | CW | 0.42 | 0.35 | 20.7% | Renewal Possible |
| 8 (8) | Supergirl (O) | CW | 0.40 | 0.35 | 14.9% | Renewal Possible |
| 9 (10) | Arrow (O) | CW | 0.38 | 0.35 | 9.2% | Renewal Possible |
| 10 (11) | Charmed (O) | CW | 0.36 | 0.35 | 3.4% | Renewal Possible |
| 11 (13) | Black Lightning (O) | CW | 0.35 | 0.35 | 0.6% | Renewal Possible |
| 12 (12) | God Friended Me (O) | CBS | 0.99 | 1.01 | -2.0% | Renewal Possible |
| 13 (14) | Legacies (O) | CW | 0.33 | 0.35 | -4.2% | Renewal Possible |
| 14 (15) | Legends of Tomorrow (O) | CW | 0.30 | 0.35 | -13.8% | Renewal Possible |
| 15 (16) | Star Wars Resistance (O) | Disney | 0.09 | 0.10 | -15.0% | Renewal Possible |
| 16 (9) | Outlander (O) | Starz | 0.17 | 0.20 | -15.0% | Renewed |
| 17 (17) | Z Nation | Syfy | 0.13 | 0.17 | -23.5% | Renewal Possible |
| 18 (18) | MacGyver (O) (F) | CBS | 0.71 | 1.01 | -29.0% | Renewal Possible |
| 19 (19) | The Good Place (O) | NBC | 0.84 | 1.27 | -33.6% | Renewal Possible |
| 20 (20) | The Gifted (O) | FOX | 0.70 | 1.07 | -34.8% | On the Bubble |
| 21 (21) | Van Helsing | Syfy | 0.10 | 0.17 | -40.2% | On the Bubble |
| 22 (23) | Stan Against Evil | IFC | 0.04 | 0.08 | -56.3% | Renewal Possible |
| 23 (22) | Channel Zero (O) | Syfy | 0.07 | 0.17 | -57.8% | Cancellation Likely |
| 24 (24) | Midnight Texas (O) | NBC | 0.40 | 1.27 | -68.5% | On the Bubble |
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 show’s 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.
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
