Cancellation Watch: Ratings results and status updates for the sci fi and fantasy shows on the broadcast networks, cable channels, and streaming services as well as breaking news on the currently airing, returning, and upcoming genre entries. For the streaming ratings, see our weekly Digital Ratings posts.
Linear Ratings Results of Interest:
On Tuesday last week, The CW’s Superman & Lois had its third season premiere and posted a 0.13 rating based on same-day viewing for the 18-49 demographic with 747K total viewers. That is down from the show’s numbers for its second season, but that ties the average for non-genre entry All American which is currently the network’s top-rated show this season. The new owners have indicated that they will not be sticking with many shows from the prior regime, but Superman & Lois is one of the top contenders to make it to the 2023-24 season as I discuss at this link. And if The CW decides not to keep the show, it could switch to HBO Max.
In the lead-out hour on Tuesday, new series Gotham Knights had its premiere and pulled a 0.11 rating in the demo with 609K total viewers. I previously considered that show to likely be dead on arrival, but if it can sustain those numbers it might have a chance. However, shows based on known properties tend to have strong premieres and then their numbers drop off once the curious onlooker effect has passed. So we will have to see how this one tracks in the coming weeks to better gauge its status.
On Wednesday, ABC’s supernatural comedy Not Dead Yet saw its numbers improve to a 0.31 rating with 2.1 million total viewers. But that one is still the lowest-rated comedy on the network, so I have moved it to Bubble status. Syfy’s The Ark held at a 0.07 rating with 428K total viewers and it is On the Bubble as well.
You can see the full, season-to-date ratings for the sci fi and fantasy shows at this link, and below are the ratings for the genre shows from the past week. Ratings Source: ShowBuzzDaily
Ratings Results for the Week of 3/13/23
| Series | Rating / Tot Viewers |
| Fantasy Island (FOX) Mon 8 PM | Preempted, Status: On the Bubble |
| Quantum Leap (NBC) Mon 10 PM | Rtg: 0.36 ↑ / Tot Vwrs: 2.3M, Status: Renewed |
| Superman and Lois (CW) Tue 8 PM | Rtg: 0.13 / Tot Vwrs: 747K, Status: Renewal Possible |
| The Winchesters (CW) Tue 8 PM | Season Ended, Status: On the Bubble |
| Gotham Knights (CW) Tue 8 PM | Rtg: 0.11 / Tot Vwrs: 609K, Status: Renewal Possible |
| The Flash (CW) Wed 8 PM | Rtg: 0.11 ↑ / Tot Vwrs: 572K, Status: Final Season |
| Kung Fu (CW) Wed 9 PM | Season Ended, Status: On the Bubble |
| Not Dead Yet (ABC) Wed 9:30 PM | Rtg: 0.31 ↑ / Tot Vwrs: 2.1M, Status: On the Bubble |
| The Ark (Syfy) Wed 9 PM | Rtg: 0.07 / Tot Vwrs: 428K, Status: On the Bubble |
| Ghosts (CBS) Thu 8:30 PM | Preempted, Status: Renewed |
| The Last of Us (HBO) Sun 9 PM | Season Ended, Status: Renewed |
Digital Ratings
It was a slow week in the digital ratings with only a few sci fi and fantasy entries in the Nielsen Streaming Rankings for the week of February 13th to 19th. HBO’s The Last of Us held at Number 2 in the Nielsen chart for acquired shows, but it dropped below one billion minutes of viewership to 925 million. Netflix’s Wednesday slipped to Number 9 in the Nielsen chart for originals with 325 million minutes viewed. Carnival Row had its second season premiere on Prime Video that week and Hello Tomorrow! had its series premiere on Apple TV+, but neither made it into the Top 10. Star Trek: Picard Season 3 had its premiere that week, but Nielsen is not tracking Paramount+ yet. No genre entries made it into the Netflix Top 10 for the week of March 6th to 12th. Following are all the sci fi and fantasy TV shows on the streaming charts for the week (the number in parenthesis is the prior week rank):
Nielsen Streaming Rankings for the Week of Feb-13 to Feb-19
Streaming Originals
9 (5) Wednesday (Netflix) 325 Million Minutes, Weeks in the Chart: 13
Acquired Shows
2 (2) The Last of Us (Netflix) 943 Million Minutes, Weeks in the Chart: 5
6 (6) The Walking Dead (HBO Max) 727 Million Minutes, Weeks in the Chart: 7
Source: Nielsen SVOD Content Ratings (Amazon Prime, Disney+, HBO Max, Hulu, Netflix, and Apple TV+), Nielsen National TV Panel, U.S. Viewing Through Television
Cancellation/Renewal Score:
It appears that the Disney+ fantasy series Willow will not be getting a second season (more on that at this link), and Paramount+ has been advertising the third season of Star Trek: Picard as its last, so both of those are moving to the cancelled and ending column. That brings the Cancellation/Renewal Score for the current season to 28 cancelled and ending shows (38% of shows tracked) vs. 24 renewed (32%). Below are this season’s numbers, and you can see the list of shows and keep up with the score throughout the week at our Cancellation Watch Page.
| Show Count | 74 | ||
| Cancelled | 14 | 18.9% | |
| Ending | 14 | 18.9% | 37.8% |
| Renewed | 24 | 32.4% | |
| On the Bubble | 12 | 16.2% | |
| Renewal Possible | 10 | 13.5% |
ALSO READ:
Sci Fi TV Week in Review: Gattaca Series Is in the Works at Showtime, Blade Runner Series Gets a Director, and More Read
CancelledSciFi.com: Keep up with the status updates of all the airing, returning, and upcoming sci fi and fantasy shows for the current season with our Cancellation Watch posts. And be sure to follow the Cancelled Sci Fi Twitter Site for breaking news and updates.
SciFiTVSite.com: Follow our Sci Fi TV Schedule for all the currently airing and upcoming sci fi and fantasy television shows, and you can see the premieres for all the upcoming genre entries at this link.
