Cancellation Watch: The Mandalorian Enters the Nielsen Rankings, The Ark Sinks, And More

Cancellation Watch: Ratings results and status updates for the sci fi and fantasy shows on the broadcast networks, cable channels, and streaming services as well as breaking news on the currently airing, returning, and upcoming genre entries.  For the streaming ratings, see our weekly Digital Ratings posts.

Nielsen Streaming Rankings

Disney+’s The Mandalorian entered the Nielsen Top 10 for original shows the week of February 27th to March 5th. That was the week of its Season 3 premiere and it landed at the Number 2 slot with an estimated 823 million minutes viewed. There was some noise that the viewership had dropped off with the show’s third season, but these numbers suggest otherwise and I previously stated that in any case I did not believe the show was in danger of cancellation. In the Top 10 for acquired shows, The Last of Us was in the Number 1 slot with one billion minutes viewed. I never saw the Nielsen Streaming Rankings for the week of February 20th to 26th beyond a consolidated Top 20, so I am guessing those were never released. Following are all the sci fi and fantasy TV shows on the streaming charts for the week (the number in parenthesis is the prior week rank):

Nielsen Streaming Rankings for the Week of Feb-27 to Mar-5

Streaming Originals
3 (n/a) The Mandalorian (Disney+) 823 Million Minutes, Weeks in the Chart: 1

Acquired Shows
1 (2) The Last of Us (HBO Max) 1 Million Minutes, Weeks in the Chart: 6
9 (6) The Walking Dead (Netflix) 502 Million Minutes, Weeks in the Chart: 8

Source: Nielsen SVOD Content Ratings (Amazon Prime, Disney+, HBO Max, Hulu, Netflix, and Apple TV+), Nielsen National TV Panel, U.S. Viewing Through Television

Linear Ratings Results of Interest:

On Wednesday, Syfy’s The Ark slipped to a 0.05 rating based on same-day viewing for the 18-49 demographic with 339K total viewers which is not a good thing. That show had been trending up, but its numbers have ticked down for the last two weeks in a row. The same-day viewing numbers are a strong indicator of this show’s status since it is an acquisition, and these levels may not be good enough to justify a second season. Fans should make some noise on the social networks as this one heads toward its season finale to bring it some attention.

Over on The CW on Wednesday, Riverdale had its seventh season premiere and pulled a 0.06 rating with 257K total viewers. That show is in its final season. Leading into that, The Flash was at a ratings low of 0.06 with 446K total viewers. That one is also in its final season.

On The CW on Tuesday, Gotham Knights held at a 0.08 rating in the demo with 483K total viewers. The show is still On the Bubble seeing as the new owners at the network plan to drop much of the programming from the prior regime after season end. But it is performing well enough that Warner Bros. Discovery could consider shifting it to HBO Max for a second season. A Call to Action from fans would certainly give it a boost.

On Monday, Quantum Leap improved some to a 0.29 rating with 2.3 million total viewers a week before its season finale. That one has already been renewed for a second year.

You can see the full, season-to-date ratings for the sci fi and fantasy shows at this link, and below are the ratings for the genre shows from the past week. Ratings Source: ShowBuzzDaily

Ratings Results for the Week of 3/27/23

Netflix Top 10

Shadow and Bone Season 2 held at the Number 2 slot for the week of March 20th to 26th. That was the second week of its second season and it had 55 million hours of viewing. In addition, Season 1 remained in the Top 10 at Number 6 with 21 million hours viewed. If the show holds for a few more weeks, it may be on track for a third-season renewal. In the Non-English Language charts, the Brazilian fantasy series Invisible City entered at Number 9 for its second season with 11 million hours viewed. Following are all the sci fi and fantasy TV shows on the Netflix charts for the week (the number in parenthesis is the prior week rank):

Netflix Top 10 for the Week of Mar-20 to Mar-26

English Language Shows
2 (2) Shadow and Bone: Season 2 55.0 Million Hours, Weeks in the Chart: 2
6 (5) Shadow and Bone: Season 1 21.3 Million Hours, Weeks in the Chart: 2
9 (8) Wednesday 13.4 Million Hours, Weeks in the Chart: 17

Non-English Language Shows
9 (n/a) Invisible City: Season 2 11.1 Million Hours, Weeks in the Chart: 1

Source: Netflix

Cancellation/Renewal Score:

Paramount+ gave the greenlight to a third year of Star Trek: Strange New Worlds last week adding one more to this season’s renewal column. Lower Decks also got an early fifth-season nod, but since its third year aired early in the season and it was renewed then, it was already counted among the renewals. Sky announced the cancellation of Britannia after three seasons, but that one counts back to the 2021-22 season. The score for the 2022-23 season currently stands at 25 renewals (32% of shows tracked) vs 28 cancelled and ending shows (36%). Below are this season’s numbers, and you can see the list of shows and keep up with the score throughout the week at our Cancellation Watch Page.

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CancelledSciFi.com: Keep up with the status updates of all the airing, returning, and upcoming sci fi and fantasy shows for the current season with our Cancellation Watch posts. And be sure to follow the Cancelled Sci Fi Twitter Site  for breaking news and updates.

SciFiTVSite.com: Follow our Sci Fi TV Schedule for all the currently airing and upcoming sci fi and fantasy television shows, and you can see the premieres for all the upcoming genre entries at this link.