In this weekly column, I monitor the viewership levels for the currently airing sci fi and fantasy shows as well as their renewal and cancellation prospects. Also check out This Week In Sci-Fi TV on Fridays (sometimes Saturdays), which delivers news and updates on genre television. Ratings Source: The Nielsen Company.

The Zoo Will Be Closing

CBS announced late last night that their animal-pocalypse series Zoo has been cancelled as of its third season. That announcement was expected throughout the Summer due to the fact that show was pulling low ratings despite a strong lead-in from Big Brother. But after the network renewed Salvation last week, I thought that Zoo had a chance of coming back for another year. The numbers for the latter show were definitely down year over year, but it actually held pretty steady throughout the Summer (around the 0.5 to 0.6 range based on same day viewing) and the network has a deal with Netflix that makes it profitable on the front end. Salvation has a similar deal with Amazon, and its numbers for most of the Summer were about the same range as Zoo after slipping from its decent start.

Zoo is apparently the more expensive of the two, but it does not seem like that would matter too much if the streaming deals are making the shows profitable out of the gate. I was surprised by the Salvation renewal, but decided that CBS had stopped trying to chase better ratings like it was after the cancellations of Extant and Braindead (both of which also had streaming deals). But then why not keep Zoo going? The network does own or co-own both shows and perhaps production costs factored into the decision-making, but Zoo fans will definitely not be happy with how things worked out. I expect them to lobby Netflix to produce a fourth season since that was the show’s streaming partner.

The Voyage Will Continue For StarTrek: Discovery Into A Second Season

Coming as no surprise, CBS has announced that the latest entry in the Star Trek television franchise has been renewed for a second season. Even though Star Trek: Discovery suffered from some behind the scenes shake-ups and production delays before hitting the air, as well as fan grumbling particularly due to the fact that they had to pay for CBS All Access to watch the show, it has had a warm reception among fans and critics since debuting in September. The series had its broadcast debut on September 24th before shifting to the streaming service for the remainder of its first season run. The ratings for the premiere where very good by broadcast network standards these days (a 1.9 rating based on the overnights for the 18-49 demographic with 9.5 million total viewers), and most importantly it brought record sign-ups to the CBS All Access service. COO of CBS Interactive Marc DeBevoise made the following statement in conjunction with the renewal:

In just six episodes, Star Trek: Discovery has driven subscriber growth, critical acclaim and huge global fan interest for the first premium version of this great franchise. This series has a remarkable creative team and cast who have demonstrated their ability to carry on the Star Trek legacy. We are extremely proud of what they’ve accomplished and are thrilled to be bringing fans a second season of this tremendous series.

The first nine episodes of the show’s first season will stream in Fall (released on a weekly basis at 8:30 PM EST on Sundays) and the remaining six will be available starting in January. The second season will likely debut late 2018 or early 2019.

Ratings Results Of Interest: The Walking Dead Returns Down, Superstition Debuts Low

On Sunday, The Walking Dead returned for its eighth season with a 5.0 rating based on the overnights for the 18-49 demographic with 11.4 million total viewers. That number will top all scripted shows for the week across the broadcast networks and cable channels, but the viewer attrition continues as it came in lower than the 5.4 rating it had for its Season 7 finale. And that 5.0 score was its lowest premiere rating since its second season. I will be looking at that show’s ratings declines in more detail in the next week or two. Over on Starz, Outlander improved to a series high 0.41 rating with 1.7 million total viewers. That show has already been renewed for a fourth season, but expect a fifth year extension if not more. Over on FOX, Ghosted improved slightly from last week as it pulled a 1.1 rating with 2.7 million total viewers.

On Friday, Syfy’s newest supernatural series Superstition debuted with a 0.12 rating and 453K total viewers. Those numbers are light even for a Syfy show, but not surprising because that one received very little promotion. Z Nation improved to its best numbers in its fourth season, pulling a 0.21 score with 616K total viewers. I expect a fifth season from that show. Over on ABC, both Once Upon A Time and The Inhumans dropped to series lows with a 0.5 score and 2.5 million total and a 0.4 rating with 2.0 million total viewers respectively. Disney will have a hard time justifying another season of either of those shows.

On Monday, FOX’s The Gifted slipped to a 1.0 rating with 3.3 million total viewers according to the preliminaries. It is still okay for now, but if that one slips much more it will get into iffy territory. In the lead-in hour, Lucifer had only a 0.8 rating with 3.2 million total viewers. But that show has adjusted up the last two weeks with the final numbers, so we will have to see if it does that a third time.

I covered the Tuesday through Thursday ratings in at this link and be sure to follow the Cancelled Sci Fi Twitter Site for the latest ratings results and breaking news. You can see the full ratings results for last week at this link.

Cancellation Watch Scorecard: The Walking Dead Returns on Top

Despite the fact that The Walking Dead‘s ratings are down this season (see above), 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. You can see the full rankings at this link.

• Previous Column: The Exorcist And The Inhumans Are On The Bubble, Chris Carter Wants More Millennium
• See a list of past columns at this link