The numbers for The CW’s Legends of Tomorrow have been on the low side since returning from hiatus and that has impacted its place in the Scorecard as it slipped four slots in the rankings this past week from Number 12 to Number 16. That one has already been renewed for a fifth season, but at this point it looks like that could be its last. Also slipping was FX’s What We Do in the Shadows, which has been dropping regularly the past few weeks. It slipped four slots from Number 28 to Number 32. Note that a few shows like NBC’s Manifest and the FOX entries appear to have improved this week, but that is more a factor of the ratings being down for their networks as the season is coming to an end which has particularly helped the shows that aired in Fall when the numbers were higher. 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 April 28th:
| Rank (PW) | Series | Net | Std Avg | Net Bench | % Var | Status |
| 1 (1) | Game of Thrones (O) | HBO | 4.92 | 0.50 | 883.3% | Final Season |
| 2 (2) | The Walking Dead (O) | AMC | 1.88 | 0.50 | 276.1% | Renewed |
| 3 (3) | American Horror Story (O) | FX | 0.96 | 0.30 | 219.7% | Renewed |
| 4 (4) | The Flash (O) | CW | 0.63 | 0.31 | 102.3% | Renewed |
| 5 (5) | The Purge (O) | USA | 0.41 | 0.30 | 36.0% | Renewed |
| 6 (6) | Supernatural (O) | CW | 0.40 | 0.31 | 27.7% | Renewed |
| 7 (10) | Manifest (O) | NBC | 1.25 | 1.07 | 16.5% | Renewed |
| 8 (7) | Arrow (O) | CW | 0.36 | 0.31 | 16.0% | Renewed |
| 9 (8) | Riverdale (O) | CW | 0.36 | 0.31 | 16.0% | Renewed |
| 10 (9) | Supergirl (O) | CW | 0.36 | 0.31 | 16.0% | Renewed |
| 11 (11) | The Magicians (O) | Syfy | 0.19 | 0.17 | 10.9% | Renewed |
| 12 (13) | Black Lightning (O) | CW | 0.30 | 0.31 | -4.2% | Renewed |
| 13 (14) | Legacies (O) | CW | 0.30 | 0.31 | -4.2% | Renewed |
| 14 (16) | The Passage (O) | FOX | 0.92 | 0.97 | -5.8% | On the Bubble |
| 15 (15) | God Friended Me (O) | CBS | 0.89 | 0.95 | -6.6% | Renewed |
| 16 (12) | Legends of Tomorrow (O) | CW | 0.29 | 0.31 | -6.9% | Renewed |
| 17 (17) | Deadly Class (O) | Syfy | 0.15 | 0.17 | -12.9% | Renewal Possible |
| 18 (18) | Siren (O) | Freeform | 0.17 | 0.20 | -13.1% | Renewal Possible |
| 19 (20) | Project Blue Book (O) | History | 0.31 | 0.36 | -13.6% | Renewed |
| 20 (21) | Roswell New Mexico (O) | CW | 0.27 | 0.31 | -14.0% | Renewed |
| 21 (19) | Charmed (O) | CW | 0.27 | 0.31 | -14.3% | Renewed |
| 22 (22) | Outlander (O) | Starz | 0.17 | 0.20 | -15.0% | Renewed |
| 23 (23) | Star Wars Resistance (O) | Disney | 0.08 | 0.10 | -22.0% | Renewed |
| 24 (26) | The Good Place (O) | NBC | 0.83 | 1.07 | -23.1% | Renewed |
| 25 (24) | Z Nation (F) | Syfy | 0.13 | 0.17 | -23.5% | Cancelled |
| 26 (25) | The Orville (O) | FOX | 0.74 | 0.97 | -24.4% | Renewal Possible |
| 27 (27) | MacGyver (O) (F) | CBS | 0.71 | 0.95 | -25.6% | Renewal Possible |
| 28 (29) | Cloak and Dagger (O) | Freeform | 0.14 | 0.20 | -31.3% | Renewal Possible |
| 29 (30) | Gotham (O) | FOX | 0.63 | 0.97 | -35.7% | Final Season |
| 30 (31) | Nightflyers | Syfy | 0.11 | 0.17 | -36.9% | Cancelled |
| 31 (32) | The Gifted (O) | FOX | 0.61 | 0.97 | -37.7% | Cancelled |
| 32 (28) | What We Do in the Shadows (O) | FX | 0.17 | 0.30 | -42.0% | Renewal Possible |
| 33 (33) | Happy (O) | Syfy | 0.10 | 0.17 | -42.4% | On the Bubble |
| 34 (34) | Van Helsing (F) | Syfy | 0.09 | 0.17 | -45.7% | Renewed |
| 35 (35) | Stan Against Evil | IFC | 0.04 | 0.08 | -46.9% | Cancelled |
| 36 (36) | American Gods (O) | Starz | 0.10 | 0.20 | -50.6% | Renewed |
| 37 (38) | Channel Zero (O) | Syfy | 0.07 | 0.17 | -57.8% | Cancelled |
| 38 (37) | Into the Badlands (O) | AMC | 0.21 | 0.50 | -58.7% | Cancelled |
| 39 (39) | Midnight Texas (O) (F) | NBC | 0.41 | 1.07 | -61.7% | Cancelled |
| 40 (40) | Mars | NGC | 0.06 | 0.16 | -65.6% | Renewal Possible |
| 41 (41) | 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
