With not many sci fi and fantasy shows airing through the Summer, I don’t expect much in the way of changes in the Scorecard rankings over the next few months, so this will act as the final Scorecard for the 2019-20 season. This includes shows that debuted in May such as Snowpiercer and Stargirl to show where they ranked as they kicked off their seasons. I do not expect them to change much (maybe slipping a slot or two), and if there is any notable downward movement in their ratings, I will cover that in the Weekly Roundup posts.
As is typical of the Scorecard, the shows in the upper half or so of the rankings tend to get renewed or are on track for renewal. Syfy’s The Magicians is one exception as it ended its season at the Number 17 slot but ended up getting cancelled. But that one ran up against that network’s five-season wall. The shows in the bottom half tend to be the ones that are cancelled or in their final season, as well as Bubble shows. This season did have a few more renewals than we have seen in the past among the bottom half, but that is another sign of the Peak TV crunch as the networks find themselves holding on to lower-performing shows in order to keep scripted programming on their schedules.
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 June 7th:
| Rank (PW) | Series | Net | Std Avg | Net Bench | % Var | Status |
| 1 (1) | The Walking Dead (O) | AMC | 1.13 | 0.30 | 277.6% | Renewed |
| 2 (2) | American Horror Story (O) | FX | 0.61 | 0.25 | 144.4% | Renewed |
| 3 (3) | The Flash (O) | CW | 0.44 | 0.26 | 67.9% | Renewed |
| 4 (5) | Primal | ADSW | 0.29 | 0.25 | 16.4% | Renewal Possible |
| 5 (4) | Snowpiercer | TNT | 0.35 | 0.30 | 15.8% | Renewed |
| 6 (6) | Stargirl (O) (F) | CW | 0.30 | 0.26 | 13.9% | Renewal Possible |
| 7 (7) | Arrow (O) | CW | 0.29 | 0.26 | 10.1% | Final Season |
| 8 (8) | Supernatural (O) | CW | 0.28 | 0.26 | 8.1% | Final Season |
| 9 (9) | Batwoman (O) | CW | 0.27 | 0.26 | 0.6% | Renewed |
| 10 (10) | Legacies (O) | CW | 0.24 | 0.26 | -7.4% | Renewed |
| 11 (11) | MacGyver (O) (F) | CBS | 0.67 | 0.74 | -9.1% | Renewed |
| 12 (12) | Supergirl (O) | CW | 0.23 | 0.26 | -12.1% | Renewed |
| 13 (13) | Riverdale (O) | CW | 0.22 | 0.26 | -16.1% | Renewed |
| 14 (14) | Watchmen (O) | HBO | 0.25 | 0.30 | -17.0% | Renewal Possible |
| 15 (15) | Black Lightning (O) | CW | 0.21 | 0.26 | -19.3% | Renewed |
| 16 (16) | Outlander (O) | Starz | 0.12 | 0.15 | -20.0% | Renewed |
| 17 (17) | The Magicians (O) | Syfy | 0.12 | 0.15 | -21.1% | Cancelled |
| 18 (18) | Manifest (O) | NBC | 0.69 | 0.90 | -23.1% | Renewal Likely |
| 19 (19) | Westworld (O) | HBO | 0.23 | 0.30 | -23.3% | Renewed |
| 20 (20) | The 100 (O) (F) | CW | 0.20 | 0.26 | -24.1% | Final Season |
| 21 (21) | Agents of SHIELD (O) | ABC | 0.30 | 0.40 | -25.0% | Final Season |
| 22 (22) | What We Do in the Shadows | FX | 0.18 | 0.25 | -27.0% | Renewed |
| 23 (23) | Evil (O) | CBS | 0.52 | 0.74 | -29.0% | Renewed |
| 24 (24) | Charmed (O) (F) | CW | 0.18 | 0.26 | -30.1% | Renewed |
| 25 (25) | Project Blue Book (O) | History | 0.21 | 0.31 | -32.3% | Cancelled |
| 26 (26) | Emergence (O) | ABC | 0.48 | 0.72 | -32.4% | Cancelled |
| 27 (27) | The Good Place (O) | NBC | 0.61 | 0.90 | -32.5% | Final Season |
| 28 (28) | Siren (O) | Freeform | 0.11 | 0.18 | -38.3% | On the Bubble |
| 29 (29) | Motherland Fort Salem (O) | Freeform | 0.10 | 0.18 | -44.4% | Renewed |
| 30 (30) | Van Helsing (F) | Syfy | 0.08 | 0.15 | -45.1% | Renewed |
| 31 (31) | Nancy Drew (O) | CW | 0.14 | 0.26 | -47.3% | Renewed |
| 32 (32) | Mr Robot (O) | USA | 0.12 | 0.25 | -53.8% | Final Season |
| 33 (33) | Roswell New Mexico (O) (F) | CW | 0.12 | 0.26 | -55.1% | Renewed |
| 34 (34) | Avenue 5 | HBO | 0.11 | 0.30 | -63.3% | Renewed |
| 35 (35) | Vagrant Queen (F) | Syfy | 0.05 | 0.15 | -67.3% | Cancellation Likely |
| 36 (36) | His Dark Materials | HBO | 0.10 | 0.30 | -67.5% | Renewed |
| 37 (37) | Dispatches from Elsewhere (O) | AMC | 0.08 | 0.30 | -73.3% | Cancellation Likely |
| 38 (38) | Star Wars Resistance (O) | Disney | 0.02 | 0.10 | -76.5% | Final Season |
| 39 (39) | Penny Dreadful City of Angels | Showtime | 0.03 | 0.20 | -83.3% | On the Bubble |
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
