The Show Has Ended for ShowBuzzDaily

Another ratings site has bit the dust. Early in 202, TV by the Numbers ceased operating after it had been providing ratings information for over twelve years (and the Cancellation Bear, which predicted the fate of shows, was a fixture of that site for over a decade). That did not impact the ratings numbers that I was reporting at  Cancelled Sci Fi, though, because I had already shifted to pulling most of my data from ShowBuzzDaily. That site, run by industry insiders Mitch Metcalf and Mitch Salem, provided more detailed ratings data including extensive coverage of the cable shows (even those pulling only a 0.01 ratings score). They started experiencing severe technical difficulties at the site in May of this year and also lost access to the extensive ratings data they were reporting on. Since they had been providing the information gratis for years, they made the decision not to go through the extensive and costly process of rebuilding the site (even though many of us would have been willing to pay to have continued access to their service). I personally would like to thank Mitch and Mitch for what they did throughout the years and for the professional, well-run site they put out. The data they provided was absolutely essential and it will be difficult to continue to report consistently on the ratings without ShowBuzzdaily.

So what does this mean for Cancelled Sci Fi?

We will continue to soldier on, and I had already been thinking ahead to a time when ratings were no longer available and/or had become irrelevant. I have already discussed some of this in the last few Weekly Roundup posts but thought I would go into more detail on future plans here. There are other sites that report on the linear ratings, though mostly just on the broadcast networks and they do not consistently provide the full numbers. ProgrammingInsider does provide some ratings numbers for the cable shows, though on a several week delay and not consistently. The good news is they also provide the delayed viewing stats which is more important for those networks, especially the premium cable channels like HBO and Showtime.

I will continue to monitor the same-day ratings for the Big Four broadcast networks (ABC, CBS, FOX, NBC) because the network execs there still pay close attention to those stats (no matter what they will tell you). The numbers will also be available for the shows on The CW, but those are relevant there because that network also heavily factors in digital viewing on their app and website. I will also monitor the ratings for the cable shows and will report what is available in as timely a manner as possible. But the fact is that the Big Four are putting out less genre entries and the basic cable channels are shying away from scripted programming in general. So the numbers are becoming more and more irrelevant.

I will also start looking at other ways to gauge the renewal/cancellation prospects of shows in this era when the Nielsens have become less of a factor. I plan on putting together “scorecards” on the linear channels and streaming services to indicate if they have historically been more or less likely to cancel sci fi TV shows. Start watching for those to be posted in the coming weeks. I will also be keeping a close eye on industry buzz to see if there is any news of note about currently airing/streaming genre shows.

There will also be some changes to the site, though I have not quite ironed all of that out just yet. I have already taken down the Status Updates page (those updates are also available at the individual show pages) as I will be doing something different with that going forward. The Cancelation Watch statuses will be changing as well, though I have not finalized the new version of that yet. And expect some more changes before we kick off the 2021-22 season in order to adapt to the changing television environment. But Cancelled Sci Fi will still be here throughout the year covering all the current and upcoming shows and keeping you updated on what has been cancelled and renewed. And we will continue to look back to the history of Sci Fi TV and delve into the legacy the genre has built up since the television networks first started to air regularly scheduled programming.  The world keeps changing, but we are not going away anytime soon!

More from CancelledSciFi.com: Keep up with the ratings developments and the status of all the currently airing sci fi and fantasy shows with our Weekly Roundup posts. And be sure to follow the Cancelled Sci Fi Twitter Site  for breaking news and updates.

Follow our Sci Fi TV Schedule for all the currently airing and upcoming sci fi and fantasy television shows, and keep up with what is airing/streaming each week with our Weekly Listings.