So the final rankings for the 2013-14 season are in and its time to look at where the sci fi / fantasy entries landed once all the dust settled. The rankings that I am looking at are the ones published by Deadline Hollywood and they are based on the overnights for the broadcast networks and have repeats during the season factored in. For the ratings in the 18-49 demographic they are going with the actual count of adult viewers (that the ratings point is derived from) in order to eliminate as many ties as possible. I have included in the grid below the average based on the numbers I typically report in the Cancellation Watch column which do not include repeats. I have also added in an adjusted number that includes repeats in the final column, but take that with a grain of salt because I do not religiously track the reruns throughout the season.
Of course, Almost Human stands out in these rankings as it came in at Number 29 for the season yet it got the ax. Some may argue that if you take out its premiere episode which scored well behind a strong lead in from NFL football that it would drop further. However, I did that math and it only causes the season ratings average to drop one tick from 1.9 to 1.8 and that would likely still keep it in the Top 35 or at least 40. The cancellation of that show was definitely a flub on FOX’s part and another network should look at picking that show up.
There were four shows that ended the year ranked in the Top 20 based on ratings: Resurrection (10), Once Upon A Time (12), Sleepy Hollow (15), and Agents of SHIELD (20). There were two that were in the Top 20 based on total viewers: Person of Interest (8) and Resurrection (11). The next two highest ranked shows based on ratings were Person of Interest (33) and Grimm (39), both of which were renewed. After that, you start seeing the cancellations with Revolution leading that pack at Number 59. That ranking is actually not too bad for the show considering the overall struggles for the networks this season and the fact that it has proved to have a strong fanbase. Those factors could help that show to eke out a pickup from another network or Netflix/Amazon.
NBC’s Dracula came in at Number 75 which is actually not bad considering its Friday 10 PM EST timeslot and its better than Hannibal’s Number 103 which aired in the same hour and got renewed. Perhaps Dracula could spin that and its notable following into a pickup as well.
Below that, you see mostly The CW’s second tier shows where we get to look at the final landing spot for Beauty and the Beast. That series–which mystified us all with its WTF renewal–ended up at the Number 167 slot which puts it in the bottom 10–as I predicted–when you take out the encore runs that were included on the list (i.e., Friday repeats of Supernatural, Saturday repeats of The Following). Some day we will get the true story of why that one was renewed, but for now we just have to scratch our heads.
Nielsen also released their overall Top 10 Twitter rankings for the year which included no broadcast network genre shows, but four entries from the cable channels. Those are The Walking Dead (Number 2), Game of Thrones (Number 5), Teen Wolf (Number 6), American Horror Story (Number 7). MTV’s Teen Wolf averaged only a 0.9 rating in the 18-49 demo for the second half of its third season, but it regularly generated large amounts of Twitter activity.
Below is the full list of the broadcast network sci fi / fantasy shows sorted by Deadline’s rating number from their list. Also included are the total viewer numbers plus the ratings that I tracked during the season. Feel free to add you own commentary on how these shows’ rankings vs. cancellation/renewal status in the comments section.
| Series | Network | Status | Rank – Ratings (1) | Rank – Tot Viewers (2) | Avg Rating – Overnights (3) | Avg Rating w/Repeats (4) |
| Resurrection | ABC | Renewed | 10 | 11 | 2.5 | 2.5 |
| Once Upon A Time | ABC | Renewed | 12 | 35 | 2.2 | 2.2 |
| Sleepy Hollow | FOX | Renewed | 15 | 38 | 2.6 | 2.4 |
| Marvel’s Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. | ABC | Renewed | 20 | 43 | 2.4 | 2.1 |
| Almost Human | FOX | Cancelled | 29 | 47 | 1.8 | 1.9 |
| Person of Interest | CBS | Renewed | 33 | 8 | 2.0 | 1.8 |
| Grimm | NBC | Renewed | 39 | 52 | 1.4 | 1.4 |
| Revolution | NBC | Cancelled | 59 | 63 | 1.4 | 1.4 |
| Intelligence | CBS | Cancelled | 60 | 29 | 1.3 | 1.3 |
| Believe | NBC | Cancelled | 71 | 54 | 1.2 | 1.2 |
| Dracula | NBC | Cancelled | 75 | 93 | 1.1 | 1.0 |
| Once Upon A Time in Wonderland | ABC | Cancelled | 96 | 97 | 1.0 | 1.0 |
| Hannibal | NBC | Renewed | 103 | 119 | 0.9 | 0.9 |
| Supernatural | CW | Renewed | 108 | 141 | 1.0 | 0.9 |
| Vampire Diaries | CW | Renewed | 109 | 147 | 1.0 | 0.9 |
| The Originals | CW | Renewed | 112 | 149 | 0.9 | 0.8 |
| The Neighbors | ABC | Cancelled | 118 | 99 | 1.0 | 0.9 |
| Arrow | CW | Renewed | 119 | 128 | 0.9 | 0.9 |
| The 100 | CW | Renewed | 138 | 150 | 0.6 | 0.6 |
| The Tomorrow People | CW | Cancelled | 148 | 161 | 0.5 | 0.5 |
| Beauty and the Beast | CW | Renewed | 167 | 171 | 0.3 | 0.3 |
| Star-Crossed | CW | Cancelled | 170 | 170 | 0.3 | 0.3 |
| Nikita | CW | Final Season | 173 | 174 | 0.2 | 0.2 |
(1) Ranking based on ratings in the 18-49 demographic for Live+SD, includes repeat broadcasts in the same timeslot.
(2) Ranking based total viewers for Live+SD, includes repeat broadcasts in the same timeslot.
(3) Average rating in the 18-49 demographic for Live+SD for new episodes only.
(4) Average rating in the 18-49 demographic for Live+SD, includes repeat broadcasts in the same timeslot.
Nielsen TV Ratings: ©2014 The Nielsen Company. All Rights Reserved.
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Star Trek City on the Edge Of Forever #1 (of 5)
IDW Publishing
By: Harlan Ellison, J. K. Woodward, Juan Ortiz
For the first time ever, a visual presentation of the much-discussed, unrevised, unadulterated version of Harlan Ellison’s award-winning Star Trek teleplay script, ‘The City on the Edge of Forever!’ This Hugo- and Writer’s Guild of America Award-winning teleplay has been much discussed for decades but only here can you see the story as Mr. Ellison originally intended!
