September is upon us and that means the beginning of a new television year. There are still a few Summer shows airing new episodes, but they will wrap up pretty soon to make way for all of the new and returning shows. So at this point, I will close the books on the 2017-18 season Scorecard and post the final rankings. The ratings results for the few stragglers will not impact the overall rankings too much, so I am not concerned about them (though I’ll keep an eye on Fear the Walking Dead and post an update if it drops). The Scorecard ranks the current season’s shows as compared to the ratings benchmark for their networks, thus comparing like performances across the television channels (see metric definitions below for more detail). As you can see from the rankings below, most of the shows higher up have been renewed, most of the shows lower down have been cancelled or are struggling. There are some exceptions and I discuss the ones from the regular season in more detail at this link. As for the Summer shows, the ratings are not necessarily as important because they often have streaming and/or international deals helping them. But then most of the Summer shows performed poorly this year and are in the lower rungs of the rankings.
The Scorecard will take a break for a month as I start to compile network ratings data for the current season, most of which will not be available until later in the month when the broadcast nets kick off their Fall programming. Expect the first set of rankings for the 2018-19 season to be posted around the second week of October, and be sure to stay tuned to this site and the Cancelled Sci Fi Twitter Site in the meantime for the latest ratings results as well as news and updates.
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.
| 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) | The Flash (O) | CW | 0.71 | 0.38 | 86.4% | 1.55 | Renewed |
| 4 (4) | Fear the Walking Dead (O) | AMC | 0.83 | 0.50 | 65.7% | 1.73 | 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 | Renewed |
| 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 | 0.31 | 0.38 | -19.5% | 0.70 | Final Season |
| 25 (25) | Lucifer | FOX | 0.76 | 0.97 | -20.8% | 1.37 | Renewed |
| 26 (26) | The Last Man on Earth (O) | FOX | 0.76 | 0.97 | -21.3% | n/a | Cancelled |
| 27 (27) | Shadowhunters (O) | Freeform | 0.16 | 0.20 | -21.7% | 0.37 | Final Season |
| 28 (28) | The 100 (O) | CW | 0.30 | 0.38 | -21.7% | 0.68 | Renewed |
| 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 (38) | Wynonna Earp | Syfy | 0.12 | 0.17 | -29.4% | n/a | Renewed |
| 39 (39) | iZombie (O) | CW | 0.24 | 0.38 | -37.8% | 0.50 | Final Season |
| 40 (40) | Reverie (O) | NBC | 0.48 | 0.80 | -40.0% | 0.70 | Cancellation Likely |
| 41 (41) | Timeless (O) | NBC | 0.60 | 1.09 | -45.0% | 1.17 | Cancelled |
| 42 (42) | Colony (O) | USA | 0.16 | 0.30 | -45.6% | 0.38 | Cancelled |
| 43 (43) | The Crossing (O) | ABC | 0.61 | 1.13 | -46.2% | 1.33 | Cancelled |
| 44 (44) | Salvation (O) | CBS | 0.32 | 0.60 | -46.7% | n/a | On the Bubble |
| 45 (45) | The Inhumans (O) (F) | ABC | 0.59 | 1.13 | -48.0% | 1.13 | Cancelled |
| 45 (46) | Kevin Probably Saves the World (O) | ABC | 0.59 | 1.13 | -48.0% | 0.97 | Cancelled |
| 47 (47) | Superstition | Syfy | 0.09 | 0.17 | -48.5% | n/a | Cancelled |
| 48 (48) | Channel Zero (O) | Syfy | 0.09 | 0.17 | -49.0% | n/a | Renewed |
| 49 (49) | Ghost Wars | Syfy | 0.09 | 0.17 | -49.8% | n/a | Cancelled |
| 50 (50) | Preacher (O) | AMC | 0.25 | 0.50 | -51.0% | 0.50 | On the Bubble |
| 51 (51) | Killjoys | Syfy | 0.08 | 0.17 | -52.1% | n/a | Renewed |
| 52 (52) | Counterpart | Starz | 0.09 | 0.20 | -53.0% | n/a | Renewed |
| 53 (53) | Agents of SHIELD (O) (F) | ABC | 0.52 | 1.13 | -53.5% | 1.17 | Renewed |
| 54 (54) | The Shannara Chronicles (O) | Spike | 0.09 | 0.20 | -54.3% | 0.30 | Cancelled |
| 55 (55) | The Exorcist (O) (F) | FOX | 0.42 | 0.97 | -56.5% | 0.60 | Cancelled |
| 56 (56) | Beyond | Freeform | 0.09 | 0.20 | -56.7% | n/a | Cancelled |
| 57 (58) | The Outpost | CW | 0.13 | 0.30 | -57.1% | n/a | On the Bubble |
| 58 (57) | Once Upon A Time (O) (F) | ABC | 0.46 | 1.13 | -59.3% | 0.99 | Cancelled |
| 59 (59) | 12 Monkeys (O) | Syfy | 0.07 | 0.17 | -61.8% | n/a | Final Season |
| 60 (60) | Legion (O) | FX | 0.19 | 0.50 | -62.0% | 0.47 | Renewed |
| 61 (61) | Ash vs Evil Dead | Starz | 0.08 | 0.20 | -62.5% | 5.00 | Cancelled |
| 62 (62) | 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
