This week brought us four finales for series that know they will return next season. Fringe scored the highest of the three averaging a 4.6 rating in the 18-49 demographic and over 11 million viewers across the hour. However, much of this came from the bleed-over of American Idol into the top of the hour. It actually dropped from a 5.3 rating in its first half hour to a 3.8 in its second, suggesting that Idol fans who stuck around didn’t do so for long. Lost pulled a 4.3 rating for its finale, the highest numbers it has seen in a while, though it only grabbed 9.27 million total viewers.

Neither Smallville nor Supernatural went out on strong notes at the CW. Smallville actually dropped one tick in its 18-49 demo rating from the prior with a 1.4 for its finale. Supernatural gained a tick from the prior week, pulling a 1.3 rating. These numbers are definitely down from when both shows peaked earlier in the season, but at this point the CW will take what it can get.

Reaper saw a tiny improvement from its numbers last week and it still has a couple of episodes to go before it wraps its current season. Don’t expect this one back on the CW next season, but its production company is currently shopping it around to other venues. Cupid slid further in the ratings in its next to last episode, so don’t expect this one to stick around after next week.

This will be the last weekly installment of the Network Ratings Tracker for this season. The majority of the Science Fiction and Fantasy shows have ended the seasons by now and by the end of next week we will know the status of all the current shows when the final announcements come from the infronts. We will provide any ratings news of interest for the remaining shows in the weekly Monday update on the main Axiom’s Edge site (and you can also track these shows at TVbytheNumbers.com), and we will run a final tally of the ratings for the season at the end of the month.

For the Summer shows, we will provide updates in the Monday weekly update and then we will return with a new and improved Network Ratings Tracker next September when the Fall season kicks off.

Ratings Results (we will update Ghost Whisperer’s numbers when available):

Highlights from this past week at Axiom’s Edge Science Fiction and Fantasy:

Just a quick update this week as there is not too much to comment on with almost half of the ScienceFiction and Fantasy shows having completed their runs at this point (or received the boot to Summer as was the case with Kings ). A two hour Medium airing did about the same as last week despite a tepid lead-in from Deal or No Deal . Fringe continues to do well on Tuesdays, while Reaper and Cupid continue to fade. Lost did okay in the 18-49 demo but continues to see its total viewership dwindle. Supernatural and Smallville pulled about the expected numbers while Dollhouse continued its downward trend and ended its season with a thud. FOX announces its schedule for the Fall 2009 season next week, and Dollhouse will almost assuredly be excluded from it. It’s quite a shame too, because the series has shown a lot of promise, and you know that Whedon had bigger and better things planned for it. In its stead, though, I’m sure we will get another cop show with a twist of reality show.

Ratings Results:

The Timeslot Rank , and % Change from Prior Week and Lead-In columns are based on the rating in the 18-49 demographic.  The Cancellation Alert column is based on season to date performance and my assessment of how likely the network is to cancel the show.  TVbytheNumbers.com also provides their Renew/Cancel Index which tracks the likelihood of cancellation on a weekly basis.

Last Week’s Posts from Axiom’s Edge Science Fiction and Fantasy:

• Movie Review – Star Trek (Take 2)
• Movie Review – Star Trek (Take 1)
• What’s on DVD – Science Fiction and Fantasy Made-for-TV Movies
• Star Trek Warps into Theaters with Some Early Showings May 7th
• Weekend Results Box Office Results – Wolverine Claws to the Top, Battle for Terra Not so Lucky
• Update – Fringe to Remain on the Edge for Another Season, and Chuck has to Wait Until Next Week for Final Word
• Movie Review – X-Men Origins: Wolverine
• Breaking Update – NBC Confirms Heroes Renewal and Pickup of New Series Day One
• Weekly Update – Rumors Fly of Renewal for Chuck, plus Hulu gets Lost and True Blood Teaser Online
• Ratings Results for the Week of April 26th – Heroes and Chuck Do Not Go Out With a Bang

Heroes and Chuck wrapped up their seasons this past week, but nobody really cared other than the ones that already watching. Chuck gained only one tick in its rating in the 18-49 demographic with a 2.4 and Heroes saw the same 3.0 rating it had on the prior week. Apparently those millions of viewers who had abandoned Heroes during the second half of its third season were not even curious about how it would end. Medium took a tumble at the 10 PM hour, losing four ticks of its rating in the 18-49 demo and over half a million total viewers. Not certain what NBC will have lead in to that one for the next few weeks, but it is on its own now that Heroes and Chuck are over.

Reaper, which has been barely holding onto a credible audience (for the CW at least) in its second season, took a tumble on Tuesday night. It dropped to a .7 rating in the 18-49 demo and less than two million viewers. Its previous numbers gave it a slight chance to return, but this could sink it altogether. Fringe continued to post strong numbers in the American Idol lead-out slot as it coasts toward its almost certain second season renewal. Cupid returned to its Tuesday night slot after a one week absence and picked up basically the same numbers it had previously. Still, that 1.8 rating is not going to convince anybody to bring this one back.

Lost, airing its 100th episode, could not fend off its competition from American Idol. It pulled only a 3.9 rating and just under nine million viewers. Not to worry, though, because ABC has already cleared this one for its sixth season.

Smallville and Supernatural both edged up a bit from their prior week performances as they head toward their season finales. Dollhouse, though, took another slide dropping down to a 1.1 rating and just over three million viewers. I had been hoping for a miracle renewal on this one, but its continued downward slide almost guarantees that the show will not return for another season.

Next week NBC will be announcing for their Fall 2009 schedule, and the following week the other networks will release their schedules, so stay tuned.

Ratings Results:

The Timeslot Rank , and % Change from Prior Week and Lead-In columns are based on the rating in the 18-49 demographic.  The Cancellation Alert column is based on season to date performance and my assessment of how likely the network is to cancel the show.  TVbytheNumbers.com also provides their Renew/Cancel Index which tracks the likelihood of cancellation on a weekly basis.

Last Week’s Posts from Axiom’s Edge Science Fiction and Fantasy:

With only a few weeks of the season left, several Science Fiction and Fantasy shows continue to sputter in to the finish. NBC’s Monday night lineup which saw a slight boost last week dipped back down as all three shows prepare to wrap up their seasons. The finales for Heroes and Chuck air on Monday, while Medium will stick around until mid-May. The latter has continued to pull the most total viewers for the evening and has a decent chance of getting a renewal. NBC has already indicated that Heroes will be back, so Chuck could end up being the odd man out, despite my previous claims that if Heroes came back it would to.

Reaper gained a tick from its prior week, but with only a 1.0 rating in the 18-49 demographic, that’s not really saying much. Fringe continues to take advantage of its American Idol lead-in and pull strong numbers. Expect to hear that show’s name on the renewal list when FOX makes their announcements in a couple of weeks.

Smallville and Supernatural came back from two weeks of reruns and, sure enough, their numbers dropped off from the last time they aired new episodes. The CW needs to find a better way to schedule these two so that they don’t keep losing steam.

Dollhouse sunk to a series low as Prison Break has proven an even worse lead-in than The Sarah Connor Chronicles. It only managed a 1.2 rating in the 18-49 demographic and just under 3 million viewers. There’s a slight chance that FOX may give this one a pity renewal and a fresh start for next season, but that’s looking less and less likely.

As we mentioned last week, Kings is now off the schedule after one tepid Saturday outing and will return in Summer to complete its run.

Also, as mentioned, Lost got the expected renewal announcement for another season. It had a clip show this last week but returns this week with new episodes until it wraps up its fifth season mid-May.

Ratings Results:

The Timeslot Rank , and % Change from Prior Week and Lead-In columns are based on the rating in the 18-49 demographic.  The Cancellation Alert column is based on season to date performance and my assessment of how likely the network is to cancel the show.  TVbytheNumbers.com also provides their Renew/Cancel Index which tracks the likelihood of cancellation on a weekly basis.

Last Week’s Posts from Axiom’s Edge Science Fiction and Fantasy:

Check out our Summer 2009 Science Fiction and Fantasy Movie Preview

As we head into the end of the season, several shows are starting to pick up steam a bit.  NBC’s Monday night Science Fiction and Fantasy block was the biggest winner of the week as all three shows posted gains in total viewers and in their ratings among the 18-49 demographic.  Heroes pulled a 3.2 rating which is the highest it has seen in over a month.  Chuck edged up a bit from the prior week and Medium managed to top ABC’s waning Castle (sorry Nathan Fillion) in both total viewers and the 18-49 demo.  Apparently more viewers are returning to all three of these shows to see how they wrap up their seasons.

On Tuesday, FOX’s Fringe continued to post strong numbers with a 4.5 rating and over eleven million viewers.  These numbers are skewed a bit because American Idol ran over into the 9 PM hour (and messed with my DVR once again), but the show is still performing very well and I don’t understand why several sites are calling it a bubble show this season.  Reaper pulled its usual rating, but dropped a bit in total viewers, which isn’t a good thing at this point in the season.  Cupid matched its prior week performance but it will get shuffled off the schedule next week because ABC wants to give some extra promotion to their new procedural The Unusuals .  This can’t be a good sign for Cupid .

Lost managed to rebound a bit from its prior week low, but then it goes to a clips show this week which may let some wind out of its sails.  Dollhouse took a break this week, but the return of Prison Break gives us an indication that it will not act as any better of a lead-in than The Sarah Connor Chronicles .  It only pulled a 1.2 rating in the 18 to 49 demo, lower than either of those shows have seen during their Friday night stint.

Update 4/20: NBC shuffled Kings off to the Saturday scrap heap and almost no one noticed as it pulled only a 0.6 rating in the 18.49 demo and 2.4 million viewers.  These numbers wouldn’t even be acceptable on the CW.  This has prompted producers to use the Kings Twitter account to implore fans to ask DirectTV to save the show, a la Friday Night Lights.  It’s an interesting use of the ever more popular Internet messaging service.  Stay tuned for updates to see if it works.

Ratings Results:

The Timeslot Rank , and % Change from Prior Week and Lead-In columns are based on the rating in the 18-49 demographic.  The Cancellation Alert column is based on season to date performance and my assessment of how likely the network is to cancel the show.  TVbytheNumbers.com also provides their Renew/Cancel Index which tracks the likelihood of cancellation on a weekly basis.

Check out our Summer 2009 Science Fiction and Fantasy Movie Preview

Other Posts from Last Week:

• Quick Hits – Captain America and Sub Mariner 70th Anniversary Specials and More
• Save My Show
• Cancellation Watch – Sarah Connor Terminated?
• Sci Fi TV Briefs – Krod Mandoon Gets the Laughs and Benjamin Linus Gets his Comeuppance
• Movie Review – Last House on the Left
• Weekly Update – Heroes Still Pulls Top Advertising Dollars; The Not Ready for Prime Time Episode of Dollhouse; New Riverworld and Phantom from Sci Fi/SyFy

Most shows are currently only a handful of episodes away from wrapping up their seasons, so the numbers we have seen up this point will pretty much dictate their fate.  Even if a few trend upward during their final episodes, don’t expect the networks to change their minds at this point on their upcoming schedules.  That said, I have raised the Cancellation Alert on most of the under-performing shows because I believe the clock is ticking for them.

Kings already got the bad news that it was getting exiled to Saturdays to complete its run.  At least it will get the chance to air out its episodes, but don’t expect anything beyond the initial thirteen.  NBC’s Monday night lineup also continues to disappoint.  I know that the network has previously said that Heroes will return, but its numbers continued to slide.  I have raised the alert back up one notch on it along with its two companions Chuck and Medium which both continue to struggle as well.

Reaper has done nothing to build on its numbers either, and its two main show-runners will abandon ship after this season and Tyler Labine could jump ship as well, moving to FOX for his own series.  Its fate definitely looks grim at this point.  And just when Smallville and Supernatural were picking up some wind in their sales, the CW throws repeats at us again.  No wonder that network is struggling because none of its shows can keep up any momentum.

Cupid had a slight chance for survival after its premiere delivered at least passable numbers.  However, it took a dive in its second outing, losing almost 22% of its rating in the 18-49 demographic from its debut.  It never seemed like ABC had confidence in this one anyway, so now you can pretty much count it gone.

Lost took a beating, dropping below its low point from two weeks ago with only a 3.7 in the 18-48 demographic and 8.29 million viewers.  It has really been taking a drubbing since FOX put American Idol in a head-to-head match with it despite the fact that Season 5 has really been hitting its stride.  It still has no real threat or cancellation, though.

FOX’s Friday night lineup looks doomed at this point.  The finale for The Sarah Connor Chronicles brought in only a few more total viewers than the show had the previous week.  And Dolhouse has done nothing to reverse its sinking numbers despite the fact that the writing for the show has continued to improve each week.  I can’t see any scenarios in which FOX decides to bring back either of these two for another season.

One bit of good news this week:  Fringe returned with strong numbers after a two month absence.  I thought its disappearance from the schedule might have hurt its numbers, but it stayed on course.  It got a boost from American Idol bleeding into its timeslot, so the numbers are a bit misleading (what I have posted are from Mediaweek, TV by the Numbers has it at a 3.8 in the 18-49 demographic).  Ignore Yahoo TV’s claim that this show might be in trouble.  It should be a no-brainer for renewal.

Ratings Results:

The Timeslot Rank , and % Change from Prior Week and Lead-In columns are based on the rating in the 18-49 demographic.  The Cancellation Alert column is based on season to date performance and my assessment of how likely the network is to cancel the show.  TVbytheNumbers.com also provides their Renew/Cancel Index which tracks the likelihood of cancellation on a weekly basis.

Recent Posts From Axiom’s Edge Science Fiction and Fantasy :

After last week’s dismal results in which almost every network show in the Science Fiction and Fantasy genre showed a drop in their ratings, this week brought a bit of good news for several shows.

On NBC, Kings halted its decline, which is about as good of news as that show can expect these days.  And on Monday night, both Heroes and Medium improved on their rating in the 18-49 demographic from last week.  Heroes Volume 4 continues to get stronger each week and it appears that viewers are slowly migrating back.

On ABC, while the premiere numbers for Cupid were nothing to get excited about, it was not a complete disaster, pulling a 2.3 rating in the 18-49 demographic and 7.56 million viewers.  Those numbers aren’t  quite strong enough to win it a second season, but at least it is not DOA (from a ratings perspective that is) like I originally thought.  I’m actually going to bump down the Cancellation Alert on that one to “Medium” for now.  On Wednesday, Lost ’s numbers rebounded some from the prior week with a 4.2 rating in the 18-49 demo and 9.35 million viewers.  And the Life on Mars finale delivered more total viewers than that show has seen in two months.

On the CW, Reaper remained pretty much steady with the numbers it saw the prior week, and both Smallville and Supernatural saw a healthy boost to their ratings.  In fact, Supernatural improved on its Smallville lead-in with the numbers in the 18-49 demo and actually posted its best numbers in the 18-34 demo since October 2006 .

On CBS, The Eleventh Hour was not so lucky.  It’s one week pre-emption because of College Basketball lead to viewers forgetting about it and it posted is lowest numbers for a new episode since December.

On FOX, Dollhouse improved its rating in the 18-49 demo from last week and The Sarah Connor Chronicles stayed even, though both dropped some in total viewers.  Both appear pretty much finished, though, as neither has made any significant move out of the ratings cellar they have been in all year.

Ratings Results:

The Timeslot Rank , and % Change from Prior Week and Lead-In columns are based on the rating in the 18-49 demographic.  The Cancellation Alert column is based on season to date performance and my assessment of how likely the network is to cancel the show.  TVbytheNumbers.com also provides their Renew/Cancel Index which tracks the likelihood of cancellation on a weekly basis.

Recent Posts From Axiom’s Edge Science Fiction and Fantasy :

Another week of ratings numbers and pretty much no show received good news from the Nielsens (except maybe The Mentalist, but who cares because arguably it shouldn’t even be included here).  So I will just do a quick show-by-show rundown.

As disastrous as the premiere of Kings was, the ratings for its second episode were even worse.  It’s down at numbers you might expect from the CW, and I wouldn’t be surprised if NBC just yanked it from the schedule altogether.  NBC could find no solace in Monday nights either as it Science Fiction and Fantasy line-up of Chuck, Heroes, and Medium continued to perform poorly.  NBC still insists Heroes will return for a fourth season, but the jury is still out on the other two.

On Tuesday night, Reaper actually improved its numbers by a tick, but considering it was the only original programming available on the networks during its hour with the other channels running Obama’s news conference, I’m not certain that is saying much.

On Wednesday, Lost continued to lose viewers as it hit a season (and I believe series) low in ratings for a new episode.  Sure, American Idol presents some pretty formidable competition, but I didn’t expect Lost to sink this low.  However, responses to our recent poll suggest that fans are still loving the show.  Life on Mars actually continued to improve its numbers a bit as it heads into its finale next week.  I guess a few more viewers are stopping by to see how the series wraps things up.

On Thursday, neither Smallville nor Supernatural has rebounded to the numbers they enjoyed earlier this season.  Apparently that break they took in February really drove people away, which is a shame because Supernatural is really hitting on all cylinders these days.

On Friday, The Sarah Connor Chronicles saw a slight improvement in total viewers, but nothing to get excited about.  Dollhouse, on the other hand, dropped two ticks in the 18-49 demographic from last week.  I’ve resisted doing it so far, but after the continued downward trend I’m bumping this one up to an “Elevated” Cancellation Alert.

Lastly, ABC’s Cupid premieres this coming Tuesday, and even though I prefer not to give a show a Cancellation Alert status until at least one episode has aired, I’m going ahead and putting this one at “Elevated”.  The show has received no love whatsoever from the alphabet network so far and seems almost assuredly destined for the scrapheap.

Ratings Results:

The Timeslot Rank, and % Change from Prior Week and Lead-In columns are based on the rating in the 18-49 demographic.  The Cancellation Alert column is based on season to date performance and my assessment of how likely the network is to cancel the show.  TVbytheNumbers.com also provides their Renew/Cancel Index which tracks the likelihood of cancellation on a weekly basis.

Recent Posts From Axiom’s Edge Science Fiction and Fantasy:

Lost returned from its one week break and stumbled against formidable competition from American Idol, pulling its lowest ratings for the year so far.  As I have stated previously, I do not believe that the ratings attrition hampers its chance for renewal.  I can’t see ABC pulling the plug on such a high profile series with only one season to go.  What I worry about, though, is network tinkering.  The show has continued to experience a year over year slide in its ratings, and I wonder if ABC network executives might step in and demand some tweaks to bolster the ratings for next year, the show’s final season.  Networks are infamous for their tinkering and for keeping their eyes on the bottom line, so it wouldn’t surprise me if they decided to meddle with Lost a bit next season to generate as much revenue as possible from its final season.  Let’s hope I’m wrong.

As I mentioned in my last Cancellation Watch column, the premiere of Kings tanked in the ratings.  It averaged only a 1.6 rating in the 18-49 demographic and 6 million total viewers across the two hours of its debut.  Not an encouraging sign for the series at all and I am starting it out on the Ratings Tracker with an “Elevated” Cancellation Alert status.  It has a slight chance of avoiding the executioner because it airs on the fourth place network and because it has received positive feedback from critics.  If this critical buzz continues, NBC could try to hold onto it as a sign that it is dedicated to quality programming.  But then the network will have five less hours available on its schedule next year because of the Jay Leno move, so don’t count too heavily on it.

A new episode of The Mentalist stumbled a bit this week against strong competition from both American Idol and Dancing With the Stars suggesting that show is not quite as bulletproof as I thought.  Still, I don’t think this dip in the numbers will at all affect its chances for renewal.  I have to wonder, though, if Fringe will suffer from its extended hiatus.  It does not return with new episodes until April, and may not manage to sustain the strong ratings performance it enjoyed previously after its protracted absence.  The one month break for Smallville and Supernatural seems to have impacted their numbers some, so imagine would the two month break could do to Fringe.

Dollhouse and The Sarah Connor Chronicles dropped a bit from last week which is not good for either series.  The latter is almost certainly on the outs anyway, but Dollhouse needs to see some sort of upward trend to have any chance at renewal consideration.

Ratings Results:

The Timeslot Rank, and % Change from Prior Week and Lead-In columns are based on the rating in the 18-49 demographic.  The Cancellation Alert column is based on season to date performance and my assessment of how likely the network is to cancel the show.  TVbytheNumbers.com also provides their Renew/Cancel Index which tracks the likelihood of cancellation on a weekly basis.

Recent Posts From Axiom’s Edge Science Fiction and Fantasy: