Despite the fact that The Walking Dead‘s ratings are down this season (more on that at this link), it is still the top-rated scripted show on television and it returned to the Scorecard in the Number 1 slot. I expect it to remain there throughout the season and I also expect a Season 9 renewal announcement in the next week or so. Syfy’s Superstition entered the Scorecard on the low side at the Number 22 slot. The good news for that one is that it is above that network’s other new supernatural series Ghost Wars (Number 24), but only by two slots. USA’s Mr. Robot slipped four slots (from Number 10 to Number 14), but I don’t believe that Emmy winning show is in trouble at the moment.
As for Disney XD’s Star Wars: Rebels, I have yet to see any ratings for that show and the network seems to be doing some strange scheduling with it. That one is in its final season, so I will likely not include it in the Scorecard this year. Most of the rest of the movement for the week was just incidental, and you can see the full rankings below.
The scorecard ranks all of the sci fi and fantasy shows’ ratings performance vs. their network’s ratings benchmark (see definition below). Shows at or above their benchmark should be okay, whereas those slipping notably below are getting into iffy territory.
Scorecard rankings based on the ratings through October 22nd (metric definitions below):
| Rank (PW) | Series | Net | Std Avg | Net Bench | % Var | Live+7 Avg Rtg | Status |
| 1 (n/a) | The Walking Dead (O) | AMC | 5.03 | 0.50 | 906.0% | n/a | Renewal Likely |
| 2 (1) | American Horror Story (O) | FX | 1.22 | 0.50 | 144.3% | 2.70 | Renewed |
| 3 (2) | The Flash (O) | CW | 1.00 | 0.51 | 98.0% | n/a | Renewal Likely |
| 4 (3) | Outlander | Starz | 0.34 | 0.20 | 68.3% | n/a | Renewed |
| 5 (4) | Riverdale (O) | CW | 0.70 | 0.51 | 38.6% | n/a | Renewal Possible |
| 5 (5) | Supernatural (O) | CW | 0.70 | 0.51 | 38.6% | n/a | Renewal Possible |
| 7 (6) | The Gifted (O) | FOX | 1.27 | 1.10 | 15.2% | 2.80 | Renewal Possible |
| 8 (7) | Ghosted (O) | FOX | 1.23 | 1.10 | 11.4% | n/a | Renewal Possible |
| 9 (8) | Legends of Tomorrow (O) | CW | 0.55 | 0.51 | 8.9% | n/a | Renewal Possible |
| 9 (9) | Arrow (O) | CW | 0.55 | 0.51 | 8.9% | n/a | Renewal Possible |
| 11 (11) | Z Nation | Syfy | 0.18 | 0.17 | 2.9% | 0.35 | Renewal Possible |
| 12 (12) | Supergirl (O) | CW | 0.50 | 0.51 | -1.0% | n/a | Renewal Likely |
| 13 (13) | The Orville (O) | FOX | 1.03 | 1.10 | -6.8% | 2.43 | Renewal Possible |
| 14 (10) | Mr Robot (O) | USA | 0.27 | 0.30 | -11.7% | n/a | Renewed |
| 15 (14) | Lucifer | FOX | 0.97 | 1.10 | -12.1% | n/a | Renewal Possible |
| 16 (15) | Channel Zero (O) | Syfy | 0.14 | 0.17 | -15.3% | n/a | Renewed |
| 17 (17) | Gotham | FOX | 0.92 | 1.10 | -16.4% | 1.60 | Renewal Possible |
| 18 (16) | Van Helsing | Syfy | 0.14 | 0.17 | -19.6% | n/a | On the Bubble |
| 19 (18) | The Last Man on Earth (O) | FOX | 0.88 | 1.10 | -20.5% | n/a | Renewal Possible |
| 20 (19) | The Good Place (O) | NBC | 1.24 | 1.57 | -21.0% | 2.10 | Renewal Possible |
| 21 (20) | Kevin Probably Saves the World (O) | ABC | 0.87 | 1.18 | -26.5% | n/a | Renewal Possible |
| 22 (n/a) | Superstition | Syfy | 0.12 | 0.17 | -29.4% | n/a | Renewal Possible |
| 23 (21) | MacGyver (O) (F) | CBS | 0.80 | 1.24 | -35.3% | n/a | On the Bubble |
| 24 (23) | Ghost Wars | Syfy | 0.10 | 0.17 | -39.2% | n/a | On the Bubble |
| 25 (22) | The Inhumans (O) (F) | ABC | 0.65 | 1.18 | -44.8% | 1.40 | On the Bubble |
| 26 (24) | Once Upon A Time (O) (F) | ABC | 0.63 | 1.18 | -46.3% | 1.40 | On the Bubble |
| 27 (25) | The Shannara Chronicles (O) | Spike | 0.10 | 0.20 | -50.0% | n/a | On the Bubble |
| 28 (26) | The Exorcist (O) (F) | FOX | 0.43 | 1.10 | -61.4% | 0.70 | On the Bubble |
| 29 (27) | Dirk Gentlys Holistic Detective Agency | BBCA | 0.07 | 0.30 | -76.7% | n/a | Renewal Possible |
Metric Definitions:
Rank (PW): Current rank based on the variance of a show’s season to date ratings average vs. its network’s benchmark (see definition below). The number in parenthesis is the prior week’s rank. Note that shows on the streaming services are not included because of insufficient viewership data and foreign imports like Doctor Who will not be included because they rely more heavily on their viewership in their home countries.
Series: (O) indicates the show is owned or co-owned by the network and/or a sister studio. (F) indicates the show airs on Friday when ratings expectations are lower on the broadcast networks.
StD Avg: The show’s season to date ratings average based on the overnights for the 18-49 demographic.
Net Bench: (Network Benchmark) For the broadcast networks, this is the net’s season to date average rating based on the overnights for the 18-49 demographic for non-sports, non-special, non-repeat broadcasts. For the cable channels, this is the lowest level at which a show is typically renewed by that network if there are enough genre entries on that channel to provide a decent sample. But note that with cable entries intangibles such as international and/or streaming partnerships can play an important factor in a shows survival and that is not measured here.
% Var: The percent variance between a show’s season to date average and the network benchmark as defined above. The higher the variance, the better a show is performing vs. the benchmark.
Live+7 Avg Rtg: The show’s season to date ratings average based on delayed viewing up to three days past the live broadcast. This data is not available for all shows.
Status: My assessment of the likelihood that a show will get renewed or cancelled. The statuses are Renewal Likely, Renewal Possible, On the Bubble, Cancellation Likely (plus Renewed and Cancelled/Ended)
Ratings Source: ShowBuzzDaily and TV by the Numbers
