CBS hasn’t had a successful medical drama in quite some time. How has Code Black been performing in the ratings? Will the network want it back for a second season or, will it be cancelled instead?
Code Black takes place in an Emergency Room in Los Angeles where underfunding and understaffing pile huge pressures on its staff. The cast includes Marcia Gay Harden, Raza Jaffrey, Bonnie Somerville, Melanie Chandra, William Allen Young, Harry Ford, Benjamin Hollingsworth, and Luis Guzman.
The series debuted in late September 2015 to a 1.54 rating in the 18-49 demographic with 8.58 million viewers. That was an okay start for the 10pm drama though the CBS execs were surely hoping for better.
The ratings took a big fall in week two, dropping 25% in the demo to a 1.16 rating with 6.83 million. The numbers for Code Black stayed at those low levels for the next several weeks and things weren’t looking good. Rather than ordering a full season of the series, CBS picked up five more episodes, bringing the first season tally to just 18 episodes.
Then, the ratings started to slowly rise and reached a mid-season high of a 1.47 demo rating with 8.50 million viewers. In 2016, the numbers have wavered however and last week’s installment hit a series low with a 1.05 demo rating and 6.04 million.
To date, the series has averaged a 1.27 in the demo with 7.13 million viewers. It’s ranking 15th (of 20 scripted CBS shows) in the demo and in total viewers.
Will CBS renew Code Black for a second season or cancel it? Looking at the ratings, the network should probably cancel it but they could easily go either way. Their decision will likely have everything to do with the strength of their upcoming pilots. We’ll know for sure by mid-May.
But, what do you think? Do you like Code Black? If you ran the network, would you renew or cancel the series?


Please renew!! I love this show, the fact that it is all one shift. Took a while to take on, but definitely deserves another season.
I love Code Black and am waiting for it to come on again!
Code Black has a new concept going for it but then again to get on the air today you had better be different. The problems lie is whether or not this difference is appreciated. I personally like the show but I’m really easy as long as it is entertaining me I go along with it especially when it is new. Some programs don’t know when to call it quits and others are cut off in their infancy and the viewers really have nothing to say unless they are a Nielsen family of the Middle American farmers type who think that… Read more »
LOVE THIS SHOW BRING IT BACK. I LOVE MOTHER GUZMAN.
I love this show !!!!! I don’t think they advertised strong enough I stumbled on it and I am hooked
We love this show and hope to see more seasons to come
Love the show. Please don’t cancel it. All of my friends love it too.
it’s a great series, very realistic and dramatic, really particular and very strong! marcia gay harden is fabulous
Code Black is AWESOME! Please do not cancel it 🙁
I love the show please don’t cancel!
I really love this show. Please don’t cancel it.
I really enjoyed all episodes of season one and am really sad to hear that Code Black may not be renewed. In reading some of the previous comments, I don’t see why the show would not renew!!!! It is possible that the numbers dropped due to other channels airing shows that people were also trying to follow, @ the same time! That seems to be a huge problem for me these days, I have several evening/night shows that I enjoy and they come on same night, same time and of course different channels or my daughter watches something different than… Read more »
I love this show don’t cancel
I love this show. Please don’t cancel it. Medical dramas are so exciting.
I really like the actors in this show, but think the content of the story line is weak. Very predictable, endings. I usually punch off about 20 minutes into the show. As a medical professional, it just doesn’t have the punch other medical shows had, like Chicago Hpe, or the first real TV medical drama, Ben Casey, which most of today’s audience is too young to remember.