The CW’s reboot series Roswell New Mexico slipped four slots in the rankings this past week from Number 11 to Number 15. That show has had the disadvantage of running solo while The Flash was on break a few weeks which has caused its numbers to slip, and it has not rebounded yet. That one may be making up the slack with digital viewing, but it might not be a bad idea for fans to make a Call to Action on the social nets to give it a boost. Also slipping in the rankings is Starz’s American Gods which dropped five slots from Number 22 to Number 27 after a slow start for its second season. That one has already been renewed for a third year, though. Most of the rest of the movement for the week was just incidental and you can find the full ratings coverage from this past week in 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 metric definitions 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 March 17th:
| Rank (PW) | Series | Net | Std Avg | Net Bench | % Var | Status |
| 1 (1) | The Walking Dead (O) | AMC | 1.91 | 0.50 | 282.1% | Renewed |
| 2 (2) | The Flash (O) | CW | 0.65 | 0.34 | 94.7% | Renewed |
| 3 (3) | American Horror Story (O) | FX | 0.96 | 0.50 | 91.8% | Renewed |
| 4 (4) | The Purge (O) | USA | 0.41 | 0.30 | 36.0% | Renewed |
| 5 (5) | Supernatural (O) | CW | 0.42 | 0.34 | 25.2% | Renewed |
| 6 (6) | Arrow (O) | CW | 0.39 | 0.34 | 17.2% | Renewed |
| 7 (7) | Riverdale (O) | CW | 0.39 | 0.34 | 17.2% | Renewed |
| 8 (8) | Supergirl (O) | CW | 0.38 | 0.34 | 13.2% | Renewed |
| 9 (9) | The Magicians (O) | Syfy | 0.19 | 0.17 | 12.5% | Renewed |
| 10 (10) | Manifest (O) | NBC | 1.25 | 1.15 | 8.6% | Renewal Possible |
| 11 (14) | Legends of Tomorrow (O) | CW | 0.31 | 0.34 | -6.9% | Renewed |
| 12 (13) | God Friended Me (O) | CBS | 0.89 | 0.96 | -7.9% | Renewed |
| 13 (12) | Black Lightning (O) | CW | 0.31 | 0.34 | -8.6% | Renewed |
| 14 (15) | The Passage (O) | FOX | 0.92 | 1.03 | -10.6% | On the Bubble |
| 15 (11) | Roswell New Mexico (O) | CW | 0.30 | 0.34 | -10.6% | Renewal Possible |
| 16 (16) | Legacies (O) | CW | 0.30 | 0.34 | -10.6% | Renewed |
| 17 (17) | Deadly Class (O) | Syfy | 0.15 | 0.17 | -11.1% | Renewal Possible |
| 18 (19) | Siren (O) | Freeform | 0.17 | 0.20 | -13.1% | Renewal Possible |
| 19 (18) | Project Blue Book (O) | History | 0.31 | 0.36 | -13.6% | Renewed |
| 20 (20) | Charmed (O) | CW | 0.29 | 0.34 | -14.6% | Renewed |
| 21 (21) | Outlander (O) | Starz | 0.17 | 0.20 | -15.0% | Renewed |
| 22 (23) | Star Wars Resistance (O) | Disney | 0.08 | 0.10 | -22.0% | Renewed |
| 23 (24) | Z Nation (F) | Syfy | 0.13 | 0.17 | -23.5% | Cancelled |
| 24 (25) | The Orville (O) | FOX | 0.78 | 1.03 | -23.9% | Renewal Possible |
| 25 (26) | MacGyver (O) (F) | CBS | 0.72 | 0.96 | -25.6% | Renewal Possible |
| 26 (27) | The Good Place (O) | NBC | 0.83 | 1.15 | -28.3% | Renewed |
| 27 (22) | American Gods (O) | Starz | 0.14 | 0.20 | -32.5% | Renewed |
| 28 (28) | Nightflyers | Syfy | 0.11 | 0.17 | -36.9% | Cancelled |
| 29 (29) | Gotham (O) | FOX | 0.64 | 1.03 | -37.1% | Final Season |
| 30 (30) | The Gifted (O) | FOX | 0.61 | 1.03 | -40.9% | Cancellation Likely |
| 31 (31) | Van Helsing (F) | Syfy | 0.09 | 0.17 | -45.7% | Renewed |
| 32 (32) | Stan Against Evil | IFC | 0.04 | 0.08 | -46.9% | Cancelled |
| 33 (33) | Channel Zero (O) | Syfy | 0.07 | 0.17 | -57.8% | Cancelled |
| 34 (34) | Midnight Texas (O) (F) | NBC | 0.41 | 1.15 | -64.3% | Cancelled |
| 35 (35) | Mars | NGC | 0.06 | 0.16 | -65.6% | Renewal Possible |
| 36 (36) | Counterpart | Starz | 0.05 | 0.20 | -75.5% | 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 show’s 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.
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
