Cancellation Watch: Tracking the weekly ratings and the cancellation prospects of the science fiction and fantasy shows currently airing on broadcast and cable networks.
By John J. Joex
AMC’s The Walking Dead pulled a 3.6 rating in the 18-49 demographic this past Sunday with just under seven million total viewers. That may have been a 14% drop from its mid-season premiere the prior week, but those are still pretty damn good numbers for a cable show as the series continues to outpace its already strong performance from its first season as well as its season to date numbers. And with more action promised from the producers for the second half of the show’s current season, expect this one to stay at or above its current level.
Heading in the wrong direction, though, is FOX’s Alcatraz. That show dropped yet again this week, pulling a 1.8 rating in the 18-49 demo and right at six million total viewers. This one now may be seriously in jeopardy seeing as it continues to slide in the ratings and only has four more episodes in its current season. That’s not much time to turn around its numbers and a downward trend is not the way to wrap up a season. I’m raising the Cancellation Alert on this one to Medium and will bump it yet again if it does not start to climb out of the hole soon.
ABC’s The River steadied out its ratings with last night’s airing, but the 1.7 that it pulled is not a great place to be treading water. Expect this one to air out it final four episodes then disappear into the mists of the jungle.
Once Upon A Time‘s 3.0 rating that it pulled in the 18-49 demo this past Sunday may seem a bit light compared to the more lofty numbers it pulled early in the season (or just last month for that matter), but then viewership overall was down on Sunday (no more boosts from football), and it was the top rated show for the evening. This one remains safe and on course for a second season renewal.
I will have the full ratings results for all of this week’s shows in the regular Monday column next week.
Ratings Source: TV by the Numbers
