Sci Fi Cancellation Watch: Doctor Who Returns Strong, Fear the Walking Dead Keeps Slipping, Plus Full Ratings Round Up

Unless otherwise noted, the ratings numbers below are based on the final overnights and may vary slightly from the preliminaries reported on the Cancelled Sci Fi Twitter Site.

doctor-who-series-8As with last week’s post, there was not too much activity over the prior week as Summer winds down and Fall slowly ramps up, so no extended analysis in this post.  You can see my comments for each show below and next week there will be much more to talk about with all the Fall debuts over the next few days.  Keep an eye out for midweek updates (should have some comments on the Gotham and Minority Report debuts later today) and the full roundup next Tuesday.

Ratings results for the sci fi / fantasy shows airing Monday September 14th thru Sunday September 20th (metric definitions below):

(Updated for chart activity in the broadcast network and cable channel Top 25)

Zoo CBS Tue 9/15 9 PM
Rating: 0.9 | % Chng PW: -10.0% | Tot Viewers (MM): 4.8 | StD Rating: 1.1 | Cancellation Alert: Moderate

It wrapped up with a season low score which is definitely not a good thing. Still, its overall average is decent for Summer and CBS has a partnership with Netflix on this one, so maybe that will be enough to keep it alive for another season.

Chart Activity: This show remained out of the broadcast network Top 25 based on the Overnights for the 18-49 demographic for a second week in a row, and almost dropped out of the Top 25 based on total viewers as it fell all the way to Number 25 (down from Number 18 the prior week).

Extant CBS Wed 9/16 9 PM
Rating: Season Ended | % Chng PW: n/a | Tot Viewers (MM): n/a | StD Rating: 0.7 | Cancellation Alert: Medium

Season ended, awaiting word on a third season.

Beauty and the Beast CW Thu 9/17 8 PM
Rating: Season Ended | % Chng PW: n/a | Tot Viewers (MM): n/a | StD Rating: 0.2 | Cancellation Alert: Renewed

Season ended, renewed for a fourth year.

Under the Dome CBS Thu 9/17 9 PM
Rating: Season Ended | % Chng PW: n/a | Tot Viewers (MM): n/a | StD Rating: 0.9 | Cancellation Alert: Cancelled

Season ended, series cancelled.

Dominion Syfy Thu 9/17 10 PM
Rating: 0.2 | % Chng PW: -42.9% | Tot Viewers (MM): 0.6 | StD Rating: 0.3 | Cancellation Alert: Moderate

This one was back down to a series low which is definitely not good. It has two more episodes to go in its second season, so if it can go out strong then it still has a chance at a third year.

Z Nation Syfy Fri 9/18 10 PM
Rating: 0.3 | % Chng PW: -25.0% | Tot Viewers (MM): 0.9 | StD Rating: 0.4 | Cancellation Alert: Low

It slipped from its Season 2 opening numbers, but it’s still doing okay for a Syfy show, especially an inexpensive one.

Continuum Syfy Fri 9/18 11 PM
Rating: 0.2 | % Chng PW: +36.4% | Tot Viewers (MM): 0.4 | StD Rating: 0.1 | Cancellation Alert: Final Season

This show improved slightly as it finishes out its final season.

Doctor Who BBCA Sat 9/26 9 PM
Rating: 0.9 | % Chng PW: n/a | Tot Viewers (MM): 2.0 | StD Rating: 0.9 | Cancellation Alert: Low

This show set records for BBC America with its Season 9 debut, yet interestingly it was at a series low (for the revival era) over in Britain. But it had to contend with strong competition from The X-Factor over there, so I don’t expect it is in any trouble at the moment.

Fear the Walking Dead AMC Sun 9/20 9 PM
Rating: 3.3 | % Chng PW: -8.6% | Tot Viewers (MM): 6.6 | StD Rating: 4.0 | Cancellation Alert: Renewed

The numbers keep slipping for this show, and I wouldn’t be surprised to see it drop again next week (could it get below a 3.0 score?). Still, it is outperforming almost all non-sports programming on television and I expect to see a rebound for its season finale in two weeks.

Chart Activity: It slipped all the way to Number 10 in the Weekly Nielsen Twitter Ratings (down from Number 6).  Could it fall completely out next week?  In the cable Top 25 based on total viewers, it slipped to Number 6 (down from Number 2) as it faced competition from football and the Republican debates.

The Strain FX Sun 9/20 10 PM
Rating: 0.6 | % Chng PW: +12.5% | Tot Viewers (MM): 1.4 | StD Rating: 0.6 | Cancellation Alert: Renewed

This show improved slightly as it heads into its season finale in two weeks. And it has already been renewed for a third year.

Be sure keep an eye out for the latest numbers and any breaking news throughout the week at the Cancelled Sci Fi Twitter Site. You can see the status of all the currently airing sci fi / fantasy shows at the Cancellation Watch page and also the latest Sci Fi TV Power Rankings post. And for more information on where I get these numbers and how I make my Cancellation Alert assessments, check out the Cancelled Sci Fi FAQ.

Metric Definitions:

Rating: Overnight rating in the 18-49 demographic for same day viewing based on the final numbers unless otherwise noted

% Chng PW: The percentage change +/- for this week’s rating vs. last week’s rating.

Tot Viewers: Estimated total viewers (age 2+) to tune in to the episode for same day viewing.

StD Rating: Season to date average for the rating metric tracked above.

Cancellation Alert: My prediction of the likelihood that a show will get cancelled. From least to most likely the statuses are Low, Moderate, Medium, Elevated, and High.

Ratings Source: TV by the Numbers and ShowBuzzDaily

Nielsen TV Ratings: ©2015 The Nielsen Company. All Rights Reserved.

Author: admin

1 thought on “Sci Fi Cancellation Watch: Doctor Who Returns Strong, Fear the Walking Dead Keeps Slipping, Plus Full Ratings Round Up

  1. Fear of the Walking Dead has only made it as far as it has because of the few people who like it for it’s slow developing pace AND because of the rest who are attempting to choke it down as we wait for the good Walking Dead to come back.

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