There was not much movement in the Scorecard this week, but at least a couple of shows are worth pointing out. Freeform’s Shadowhunters wrapped up the first half of its third season last week on a low note, causing that show to slip two slots from Number 27 to Number 29. USA’s Colony saw an improvement to its ratings last week and jumped up one slot to Number 45. That is still pretty low, though, and the show’s ratings are down by over 40% this year. Both of those need a Call to Action from their fans to improve their prospects. Most of the rest of the movement for the week was just incidental and you can see the full rankings below.
Note that last week counted as the final week of the season for the broadcast networks and I will not be compiling the network averages through the Summer because their programming will consist of a heavy dose of reruns. Summer originals on the broadcast nets will be compared to an adjusted benchmark that takes into account the drop in viewership over this time of year.
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 May 20th (metric definitions below):
| 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 | 1.04 | 0.50 | 107.0% | n/a | Renewal Likely |
| 4 (4) | The Flash (O) | CW | 0.71 | 0.38 | 84.7% | 1.61 | Renewed |
| 5 (5) | Ghosted (O) | FOX | 1.60 | 0.97 | 65.7% | n/a | On the Bubble |
| 6 (6) | Outlander | Starz | 0.32 | 0.20 | 59.6% | 0.60 | Renewed |
| 7 (7) | The Magicians (O) | Syfy | 0.26 | 0.17 | 54.3% | 0.57 | Renewed |
| 8 (9) | Black Lightning (O) | CW | 0.56 | 0.38 | 46.5% | 0.97 | Renewed |
| 9 (8) | Krypton | Syfy | 0.24 | 0.17 | 42.5% | 0.77 | Renewal Possible |
| 10 (10) | Supernatural (O) | CW | 0.53 | 0.38 | 37.9% | 0.99 | Renewed |
| 11 (11) | Supergirl (O) | CW | 0.52 | 0.38 | 36.3% | 1.01 | Renewed |
| 12 (12) | Happy (O) | Syfy | 0.21 | 0.17 | 24.3% | 0.55 | Renewed |
| 13 (13) | Westworld | HBO | 0.69 | 0.60 | 15.7% | n/a | Renewed |
| 14 (15) | Riverdale (O) | CW | 0.43 | 0.38 | 12.4% | 1.01 | Renewed |
| 15 (14) | Siren | Freeform | 0.22 | 0.20 | 11.3% | 0.55 | Renewed |
| 16 (16) | Legends of Tomorrow (O) | CW | 0.41 | 0.38 | 7.3% | 0.94 | Renewed |
| 17 (17) | The Expanse | Syfy | 0.18 | 0.17 | 4.9% | n/a | Cancelled |
| 18 (18) | The Orville (O) | FOX | 1.00 | 0.97 | 3.6% | 2.15 | 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% | 0.93 | Renewed |
| 21 (22) | The X-Files (O) | FOX | 0.95 | 0.97 | -1.6% | n/a | Final Season |
| 22 (24) | The Good Place (O) | NBC | 1.04 | 1.09 | -4.7% | 1.95 | Renewed |
| 23 (21) | The Originals (O) | CW | 0.36 | 0.38 | -6.1% | n/a | Final Season |
| 24 (23) | The 100 (O) | CW | 0.35 | 0.38 | -8.7% | n/a | Renewed |
| 25 (25) | The Gifted (O) | FOX | 0.85 | 0.97 | -12.0% | 2.08 | Renewed |
| 26 (26) | Into the Badlands (O) | AMC | 0.40 | 0.50 | -20.4% | n/a | Renewal Possible |
| 27 (29) | Lucifer | FOX | 0.76 | 0.97 | -20.8% | 1.37 | Cancelled |
| 28 (30) | The Last Man on Earth (O) | FOX | 0.76 | 0.97 | -21.3% | n/a | Cancelled |
| 29 (27) | Shadowhunters (O) | Freeform | 0.16 | 0.20 | -21.7% | 0.40 | On the Bubble |
| 30 (28) | Stan Against Evil | IFC | 0.06 | 0.08 | -21.9% | n/a | Renewed |
| 31 (32) | MacGyver (O) (F) | CBS | 0.83 | 1.07 | -22.0% | n/a | Renewed |
| 32 (31) | Final Space (O) | TBS | 0.23 | 0.30 | -22.7% | n/a | Renewed |
| 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) | Gotham | FOX | 0.68 | 0.97 | -29.4% | 1.41 | Renewed |
| 37 (37) | iZombie (O) | CW | 0.25 | 0.38 | -35.9% | 0.50 | Renewed |
| 38 (38) | The Crossing (O) | ABC | 0.66 | 1.13 | -41.7% | 1.60 | Cancelled |
| 39 (39) | Timeless (O) | NBC | 0.60 | 1.09 | -45.0% | 1.23 | On the Bubble |
| 40 (40) | The Inhumans (O) (F) | ABC | 0.59 | 1.13 | -48.0% | 1.13 | Cancelled |
| 40 (40) | Kevin Probably Saves the World (O) | ABC | 0.59 | 1.13 | -48.0% | 0.97 | Cancelled |
| 42 (42) | Superstition | Syfy | 0.09 | 0.17 | -48.5% | n/a | Cancellation Likely |
| 43 (43) | Channel Zero (O) | Syfy | 0.09 | 0.17 | -49.0% | n/a | Renewed |
| 44 (44) | Ghost Wars | Syfy | 0.09 | 0.17 | -49.8% | n/a | Cancelled |
| 45 (46) | Colony (O) | USA | 0.15 | 0.30 | -51.1% | n/a | On the Bubble |
| 46 (45) | Counterpart | Starz | 0.09 | 0.20 | -53.0% | n/a | Renewed |
| 47 (47) | Agents of SHIELD (O) (F) | ABC | 0.52 | 1.13 | -53.5% | 1.23 | Renewed |
| 48 (48) | The Shannara Chronicles (O) | Spike | 0.09 | 0.20 | -54.3% | 0.30 | Cancelled |
| 49 (50) | The Exorcist (O) (F) | FOX | 0.42 | 0.97 | -56.5% | 0.60 | Cancelled |
| 50 (49) | Beyond | Freeform | 0.09 | 0.20 | -56.7% | n/a | Cancelled |
| 51 (51) | Legion (O) | FX | 0.20 | 0.50 | -59.1% | 0.70 | On the Bubble |
| 52 (52) | Once Upon A Time (O) (F) | ABC | 0.46 | 1.13 | -59.3% | 1.02 | Cancelled |
| 53 (53) | Ash vs Evil Dead | Starz | 0.08 | 0.20 | -62.5% | n/a | Cancelled |
| 54 (54) | 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
