Cancellation Watch Scorecard: The Outpost Starts Out Near the Bottom of the Rankings

The CW’s new fantasy series The Outpost had its debut last week and posted low numbers even for the fifth place network in Summer. That has it starting out at Number 59 in the rankings, one slot from the bottom. But the news is not all bad for that one because it is an acquisition for the network and likely comes at a low price. It is also airing internationally and if it does well enough in that market to get a second season, The CW could keep it running if the economics work out. CBS’ Salvation slipped one slot this week as it ratings have dropped, but apart from that there was not much movement this week other than some incidental shifts as most of the currently airing shows are holding fairly stable with their ratings at this point in the Summer. For the ratings coverage from this past week, be sure to check out our latest Weekly Roundup post.




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 July 15th:

Rank (PW) Series Net Std Avg Net Bench % Var Live+7 Avg Rtg Status
1 (1) The Walking Dead (O) AMC 3.39 0.50 578.0% 5.22 Renewed
2 (2) American Horror Story (O) FX 1.10 0.50 120.7% 2.47 Renewed
3 (3) Fear the Walking Dead (O) AMC 0.94 0.50 88.5% 1.73 Renewal Possible
4 (4) The Flash (O) CW 0.71 0.38 86.4% 1.55 Renewed
5 (5) Outlander Starz 0.32 0.20 59.6% 0.60 Renewed
6 (6) The Magicians (O) Syfy 0.26 0.17 54.3% 0.57 Renewed
7 (7) Black Lightning (O) CW 0.56 0.38 46.5% 0.96 Renewed
8 (8) Supernatural (O) CW 0.53 0.38 37.9% 0.96 Renewed
9 (9) Krypton Syfy 0.23 0.17 36.5% 0.63 Renewed
10 (10) Supergirl (O) CW 0.49 0.38 28.6% 0.95 Renewed
11 (11) Happy (O) Syfy 0.21 0.17 24.3% 0.55 Renewed
12 (12) Riverdale (O) CW 0.43 0.38 12.4% 0.97 Renewed
13 (13) Siren Freeform 0.22 0.20 10.6% 0.52 Renewed
14 (14) Legends of Tomorrow (O) CW 0.41 0.38 7.3% 0.92 Renewed
15 (15) The Expanse Syfy 0.18 0.17 3.9% 0.40 Renewed
16 (16) Cloak and Dagger (O) Freeform 0.21 0.20 3.7% 0.55 Renewal Possible
17 (17) The Orville (O) FOX 1.00 0.97 3.6% 2.15 Renewed
18 (18) Westworld HBO 0.61 0.60 1.7% 1.05 Renewed
19 (19) Z Nation Syfy 0.17 0.17 0.5% 0.37 Renewed
20 (20) Arrow (O) CW 0.38 0.38 -1.2% 0.87 Renewed
21 (21) The X-Files (O) FOX 0.95 0.97 -1.6% n/a Final Season
22 (22) The Good Place (O) NBC 1.04 1.09 -4.7% 1.95 Renewed
23 (23) The Gifted (O) FOX 0.85 0.97 -12.0% 2.08 Renewed
24 (24) The Originals (O) CW 0.32 0.38 -15.9% 0.70 Final Season
25 (25) The 100 (O) CW 0.31 0.38 -18.8% 0.68 Renewed
26 (26) Lucifer FOX 0.76 0.97 -20.8% 1.37 Renewed
27 (27) The Last Man on Earth (O) FOX 0.76 0.97 -21.3% n/a Cancelled
28 (28) Shadowhunters (O) Freeform 0.16 0.20 -21.7% 0.37 Final Season
29 (29) Stan Against Evil IFC 0.06 0.08 -21.9% n/a Renewed
30 (30) MacGyver (O) (F) CBS 0.83 1.07 -22.0% n/a Renewed
31 (31) Final Space (O) TBS 0.23 0.30 -22.7% n/a Renewed
32 (32) Ghosted (O) FOX 0.73 0.97 -24.9% 0.60 Cancelled
33 (33) Van Helsing Syfy 0.13 0.17 -25.8% 0.30 Renewed
34 (34) The Librarians TNT 0.29 0.40 -27.5% 0.60 Cancelled
35 (35) Mr Robot (O) USA 0.22 0.30 -28.0% 0.44 Renewed
36 (36) Into the Badlands (O) AMC 0.36 0.50 -28.5% 0.70 On the Bubble
37 (37) Gotham FOX 0.68 0.97 -29.4% 1.38 Renewed
38 (39) iZombie (O) CW 0.24 0.38 -37.8% 0.50 Final Season
40 (38) Salvation (O) CBS 0.35 0.60 -41.7% n/a On the Bubble
39 (40) Reverie (O) NBC 0.48 0.80 -40.0% 0.70 Cancellation Likely
41 (41) Colony (O) USA 0.17 0.30 -44.5% 0.38 On the Bubble
42 (42) Timeless (O) NBC 0.60 1.09 -45.0% 1.17 Cancelled
43 (43) The Crossing (O) ABC 0.61 1.13 -46.2% 1.33 Cancelled
44 (44) The Inhumans (O) (F) ABC 0.59 1.13 -48.0% 1.13 Cancelled
44 (45) Kevin Probably Saves the World (O) ABC 0.59 1.13 -48.0% 0.97 Cancelled
46 (46) Superstition Syfy 0.09 0.17 -48.5% n/a Cancellation Likely
47 (47) Channel Zero (O) Syfy 0.09 0.17 -49.0% n/a Renewed
48 (48) Ghost Wars Syfy 0.09 0.17 -49.8% n/a Cancelled
49 (49) Counterpart Starz 0.09 0.20 -53.0% n/a Renewed
50 (50) Agents of SHIELD (O) (F) ABC 0.52 1.13 -53.5% 1.17 Renewed
51 (51) The Shannara Chronicles (O) Spike 0.09 0.20 -54.3% 0.30 Cancelled
52 (52) The Exorcist (O) (F) FOX 0.42 0.97 -56.5% 0.60 Cancelled
53 (53) Beyond Freeform 0.09 0.20 -56.7% n/a Cancelled
54 (54) Preacher (O) AMC 0.21 0.50 -58.0% 0.50 On the Bubble
55 (55) Once Upon A Time (O) (F) ABC 0.46 1.13 -59.3% 0.99 Cancelled
56 (56) 12 Monkeys (O) Syfy 0.07 0.17 -61.8% n/a Final Season
57 (57) Legion (O) FX 0.19 0.50 -62.0% 0.47 Renewed
58 (58) Ash vs Evil Dead Starz 0.08 0.20 -62.5% 5.00 Cancelled
59 (n/a) The Outpost CW 0.10 0.30 -66.7% n/a On the Bubble
60 (59) Dirk Gentlys Holistic Detective Agency BBCA 0.07 0.30 -76.7% n/a Cancelled

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

Author: johnnyjay

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