Sci Fi TV Update: Status updates, news, and developments on sci fi and fantasy television. For breaking news, be sure to follow the Cancelled Sci Fi Twitter Site
Digital Ratings
For a second week in a row, Manifest was at Number 1 in the Nielsen Streaming Top 10 for acquired shows, bringing in a record-setting 2.5 billion minutes of viewing for its encore run on Netflix. That is one of the highest viewing numbers since Nielsen began publishing these rankings last year. And it should be a wakeup call to the streamer to reconsider picking this show up for a fourth season especially considering that the 29 episodes of Manifest pulled in over three times the viewership of Netflix’s current most-watched original Lucifer (and that one has over 80 episodes).
In the Top 10 for streaming originals, the first four slots were held by genre entries for a second week in a row. Loki improved to Number 1 in its second week with 886 million minutes of viewing as it continues to set viewership records for Disney+. Lucifer remained at Number 2 and logged another 703 million minutes of viewing. Sweet Tooth slipped to Number 3 with 626 million minutes of viewing. And Hulu’s The Handmaid’s Tale maintained its lock on the Number 4 slot with 505 million minutes. Netflix’s Ragnorak dropped out after two weeks on the chart. Following are all the sci fi and fantasy entries on the streaming charts for the week (the number in parenthesis is the prior week rank):
Digital Ratings for the Week of Jun-14 to Jun-20
Streaming Originals
1 (3) Loki (Netflix) 886 Million
2 (2) Lucifer (Netflix) 703 Million
3 (1) Sweet Tooth (Disney+) 626 Million
4 (4) The Handmaid’s Tale (Hulu) 505 Million
Acqiured Shows
1 (1) Manifest (Netflix) 2.49 Billion
9 (10) Supernatural (Netflix) 364 Million
Movies
7 (n/a) The Devil Below (Netflix) 146 Million
Source: Nielsen SVOD Content Ratings (Amazon Prime, Disney+, Hulu, and Netflix), Nielsen National TV Panel, U.S. Viewing Through Television
Ratings Results of Interest
Freeform’s Motherland Fort Salem improved a bit in the ratings for the third week of its second season. It posted a 0.06 rating based on same-day viewing for the 18-49 demographic with 186K total viewers. The ratings were up from the 0.04 score it posted the prior week and I am still waiting to see the delayed viewing numbers for this show. On The CW, the premiere of Wellington Paranormal only managed a 0.04 rating in the demo with 218K total viewers. But that show is an international acquisition and has already been renewed through a fourth season in its home country of New Zealand. And a shout out to Spoiler TV for picking up on the expanded ratings now that ShowBuzzDaily has shut down.
Cancellation and Renewal Announcements
Coming as no surprise, Netflix has announced that its fantasy series Cursed will not be returning for a second season. That show posted good viewership for its first season, but it was one of many impacted by pandemic-related delays. As the months rolled on and there was no word on a second season, its fate certainly seemed to be in doubt. Netflix has now made the cancellation official about one year after the show premiered. Also coming as no surprise, Disney+ has officially renewed Loki for a second year, announced during the season finale end credits. There were already rumors that a second season was in the works, and the show has pulled the highest viewership of any original series for the streamer so far. The second season for that show could premiere in 2022, though that may depend on the schedule of the Phase Four MCU movies.
Sci Fi TV News of Note
James Gunn has announced on Twitter that filming for the first season of the Peacemaker series starring John Cena (a spin-off from Suicide Squad) has wrapped. That series will premiere on HBO Max either later this year or early 2022 . . . The ’80s animated series Silverhawks is getting revived by The Nacelle Company. The show was originally produced by Rankin/Bass who also did ThunderCats. No network has been attached to the revival yet . . . The Willow TV series revival has a new director and perhaps it will finally start moving forward. Stephen Woolfenden has stepped in to direct the pilot after both Jonathan Entwistle and Jon M. Chu bowed out . . . San Diego Comic Con will be remote again this year and kicks off on Friday, July 23rd. The virtual panels will include the Walking Dead shows, Doctor Who, Rick and Morty, a Stargate: Atlantis cast re-union (could a movie announcement come out of that?), and more. You can see the full schedule of panels at this link. Be sure to follow r/SciFiTV for news, schedule updates, trailers, discussions, and more.
Sci Fi TV Schedule
NBC has announced September 28th as the premiere date for its upcoming sci fi series Le Brea. That show will air on Tuesdays at 9 PM EST. CBS has announced October 7th as the premiere date for its supernatural comedy Ghosts which will air a 9 PM EST on Thursdays. You can see the preliminary Fall schedule for sci fi and fantasy shows at this link. This coming week Kevin Smith’s He-Man revival Masters of the Universe: Revelation will have its premiere on Friday on Netflix with all episodes available for viewing. And three of The CW’s shows will be wrapping up their seasons: The Flash, Kung Fu, and Charmed. You can keep up with the weekly listings at this link.
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.
