Syfy’s hard-boiled fantasy Happy! continues to slip in the rankings as that show’s numbers have been down notably in its second season. It dropped four slots this week from Number 28 to Number 32 and could definitely use a Call to Action from fans on the social networks. Freeform’s Marvel superhero series Cloak and Dagger returned last week with a ratings drop from its first season and it opens in the lower third of the rankings at Number 28. That one could also use a boost from fans on the social nets. AMC’s cancelled Into the Badlands dropped four slots this week, going from Number 32 to Number 34. It was not all bad news in the rankings, though, as FX’s horror mockumentary What We Do in the Shadows improved from Number 27 to Number 22 as its ratings improved last week. Most of the rest of the movement for the week was just incidental and you can find the full ratings coverage from this past week in 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 April 7th:
| Rank (PW) | Series | Net | Std Avg | Net Bench | % Var | Status |
| 1 (1) | The Walking Dead (O) | AMC | 1.88 | 0.50 | 276.1% | Renewed |
| 2 (2) | American Horror Story (O) | FX | 0.96 | 0.30 | 219.7% | Renewed |
| 3 (3) | The Flash (O) | CW | 0.64 | 0.32 | 99.5% | Renewed |
| 4 (4) | The Purge (O) | USA | 0.41 | 0.30 | 36.0% | Renewed |
| 5 (5) | Supernatural (O) | CW | 0.41 | 0.32 | 27.6% | Renewed |
| 6 (6) | Arrow (O) | CW | 0.38 | 0.32 | 18.5% | Renewed |
| 7 (7) | Riverdale (O) | CW | 0.38 | 0.32 | 18.5% | Renewed |
| 8 (8) | Supergirl (O) | CW | 0.37 | 0.32 | 14.8% | Renewed |
| 9 (9) | Manifest (O) | NBC | 1.25 | 1.12 | 11.9% | Renewal Possible |
| 10 (10) | The Magicians (O) | Syfy | 0.19 | 0.17 | 9.1% | Renewed |
| 11 (12) | God Friended Me (O) | CBS | 0.90 | 0.96 | -6.2% | Renewed |
| 12 (11) | Legends of Tomorrow (O) | CW | 0.30 | 0.32 | -7.0% | Renewed |
| 13 (13) | Black Lightning (O) | CW | 0.30 | 0.32 | -7.0% | Renewed |
| 14 (14) | Legacies (O) | CW | 0.30 | 0.32 | -7.0% | Renewed |
| 15 (15) | The Passage (O) | FOX | 0.92 | 1.00 | -8.1% | On the Bubble |
| 16 (16) | Deadly Class (O) | Syfy | 0.15 | 0.17 | -12.9% | Renewal Possible |
| 17 (17) | Siren (O) | Freeform | 0.17 | 0.20 | -13.1% | Renewal Possible |
| 18 (19) | Roswell New Mexico (O) | CW | 0.28 | 0.32 | -13.2% | Renewal Possible |
| 19 (18) | Project Blue Book (O) | History | 0.31 | 0.36 | -13.6% | Renewed |
| 20 (21) | Charmed (O) | CW | 0.28 | 0.32 | -14.3% | Renewed |
| 21 (20) | Outlander (O) | Starz | 0.17 | 0.20 | -15.0% | Renewed |
| 22 (27) | What We Do in the Shadows (O) | FX | 0.24 | 0.30 | -20.0% | Renewal Possible |
| 23 (22) | Star Wars Resistance (O) | Disney | 0.08 | 0.10 | -22.0% | Renewed |
| 24 (24) | The Orville (O) | FOX | 0.76 | 1.00 | -23.5% | Renewal Possible |
| 25 (23) | Z Nation (F) | Syfy | 0.13 | 0.17 | -23.5% | Cancelled |
| 26 (25) | MacGyver (O) (F) | CBS | 0.71 | 0.96 | -25.9% | Renewal Possible |
| 27 (26) | The Good Place (O) | NBC | 0.83 | 1.12 | -26.2% | Renewed |
| 28 (n/a) | Cloak and Dagger (O) | Freeform | 0.13 | 0.20 | -35.0% | Renewal Possible |
| 29 (29) | Gotham (O) | FOX | 0.64 | 1.00 | -35.8% | Final Season |
| 30 (30) | Nightflyers | Syfy | 0.11 | 0.17 | -36.9% | Cancelled |
| 31 (31) | The Gifted (O) | FOX | 0.61 | 1.00 | -39.2% | Cancellation Likely |
| 32 (28) | Happy (O) | Syfy | 0.10 | 0.17 | -41.2% | On the Bubble |
| 33 (33) | American Gods (O) | Starz | 0.11 | 0.20 | -45.0% | Renewed |
| 34 (34) | Van Helsing (F) | Syfy | 0.09 | 0.17 | -45.7% | Renewed |
| 35 (35) | Stan Against Evil | IFC | 0.04 | 0.08 | -46.9% | Cancelled |
| 36 (32) | Into the Badlands (O) | AMC | 0.25 | 0.50 | -49.3% | Cancelled |
| 37 (36) | Channel Zero (O) | Syfy | 0.07 | 0.17 | -57.8% | Cancelled |
| 38 (37) | Midnight Texas (O) (F) | NBC | 0.41 | 1.12 | -63.2% | Cancelled |
| 39 (38) | Mars | NGC | 0.06 | 0.16 | -65.6% | Renewal Possible |
| 40 (39) | Counterpart | Starz | 0.05 | 0.20 | -75.5% | 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 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
