500 Questions: Cancel or Keep the ABC Game Show?

Last night, ABC wrapped up the first season of 500 Questions, their new primetime game show. How did it do in the ratings? Is it a slam-dunk to be renewed for a second season or, will it certainly be cancelled instead?

Hosted by Richard Quest, 500 Questions lets some adult geniuses try to answer 500 very difficult general knowledge questions and win lots of cash — without answering three in a row incorrectly.

Airing over the course of seven evenings, the series debuted on May 20th to a 1.2 rating in the 18-49 demographic with 5.058 million viewers. It wasn’t a great start, even for a summer series.

The numbers dropped over the seven episodes but didn’t dip below four million. They averaged a 1.04 demo rating with 4.79 million.

Looking at the numbers, there’s really no reason for ABC to renew 500 Questions for a second season. It surely didn’t attract much attention as an “event”. Still, there is a chance that the network will bring it back for another short run, filling a gap in their schedule. It didn’t cost ABC much to make and it did maintain its (small) viewership numbers as people begin to cut back on their television viewing in the warmer months.

But, what do you think? Do you like the 500 Questions series? Cancel or keep it?