AMC’s The Walking Dead has returned with new episodes, and not surprisingly it is back at the top of the Scorecard. Even though that show’s numbers are down (like pretty much every other show on television right now), it is still performing quite well compared to its network’s benchmark and it starts off in the Number 1 slot. Right behind that is The CW’s Superman & Lois which kicked off with strong numbers (for its network) with its premiere last week. It could slip some once the curious-onlooker effect wears off, but I expect it to remain fairly high in the rankings throughout the season (and The CW has just announced its second season renewal). The Flash is returning for its seventh season this week, I and expect to see that one race to the upper rungs of the rankings starting with next week’s Scorecard. The rest of the movement in the Scorecard was mostly incidental and you can see the full ratings results from the week at this link.
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 February 28th:
| Rank (PW) | Series | Net | Std Avg | Net Bench | % Var | Status |
| 1 (n/a) | The Walking Dead (O) | AMC | 0.90 | 0.30 | 198.3% | Renewed |
| 2 (n/a) | Superman & Lois (O) | CW | 0.37 | 0.15 | 145.4% | Renewal Possible |
| 3 (1) | Supernatural (O) | CW | 0.30 | 0.15 | 99.0% | Final Season |
| 4 (2) | Resident Alien (O) | Syfy | 0.19 | 0.15 | 26.7% | Renewal Possible |
| 5 (3) | Fear the Walking Dead (O) | AMC | 0.35 | 0.30 | 18.1% | Renewed |
| 6 (4) | Legacies (O) | CW | 0.15 | 0.15 | 0.8% | Renewed |
| 7 (5) | Riverdale (O) | CW | 0.14 | 0.15 | -4.9% | Renewed |
| 8 (8) | MacGyver (O) (F) | CBS | 0.53 | 0.59 | -9.7% | Renewal Possible |
| 9 (6) | Batwoman (O) | CW | 0.14 | 0.15 | -10.5% | Renewed |
| 10 (9) | Snowpiercer | TNT | 0.27 | 0.30 | -10.7% | Renewed |
| 11 (10) | The Walking Dead World Beyond (O) | AMC | 0.25 | 0.30 | -16.7% | Renewed |
| 12 (7) | Black Lightning (O) | CW | 0.12 | 0.15 | -18.2% | Final Season |
| 13 (11) | Swamp Thing (O) | CW | 0.12 | 0.15 | -20.4% | Cancelled |
| 14 (12) | Primal | ADSW | 0.19 | 0.25 | -24.0% | Renewed |
| 15 (13) | Two Sentence Horror Stories | CW | 0.09 | 0.15 | -41.4% | Renewed |
| 16 (14) | Charmed (O) | CW | 0.09 | 0.15 | -41.6% | Renewed |
| 17 (15) | Nancy Drew (O) | CW | 0.09 | 0.15 | -43.6% | Renewed |
| 18 (16) | The Outpost | CW | 0.08 | 0.15 | -45.4% | Renewal Possible |
| 19 (17) | Trickster | CW | 0.08 | 0.15 | -50.3% | Cancelled |
| 20 (18) | Pandora | CW | 0.07 | 0.15 | -53.6% | On the Bubble |
| 21 (19) | NeXt | FOX | 0.25 | 0.66 | -62.8% | Cancelled |
| 22 (20) | Star Trek Discovery (O) | CBS | 0.21 | 0.59 | -64.2% | Renewed |
| 23 (21) | American Gods (O) | Starz | 0.04 | 0.15 | -74.3% | On the Bubble |
| 24 (22) | His Dark Materials | HBO | 0.05 | 0.30 | -82.4% | Renewed |
| 25 (23) | The Watch | BBCA | 0.03 | 0.25 | -86.3% | Renewal Possible |
| 26 (24) | Moonbase 8 | Show | 0.01 | 0.20 | -95.6% | 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
