CW TV Show Rankings for 2010-11 Season [as of 2/3/11]

Which CW TV shows will be cancelled or renewed for the 2011-12 season? Before we get to the overall rankings, let’s take a look at the highs and lows…

On Monday night, 90210 was down by nearly 18% in the 18-34 female demographic, to a 1.4 rating. Gossip Girl was also down, by 11% in the young female demo, to a 1.7 rating. This was enough to lower the show’s season average.

Tuesday, One Tree Hill was up by a whopping 26% in the young female demo to a 2.4 rating. Hellcats was down by 7% to a 1.4 rating. On Thursday, Vampire Diaries was up by 4% in the demo but Nikita lost 23%, hitting a 1.0 rating with females 18-34.

Wonder if your favorite FOX show’s been renewed or cancelled? Check out our comprehensive list. We’ll keep updating it as new info becomes available.

Below is a list of the regular CW TV shows and their 2010-11 season average ratings to date. It only incorporates the ratings for original episodes that have aired this season (no repeats). The data is sorted by the 18-34 female demographic averages, the group that the CW focuses on attracting and selling to advertisers. The “compared to” column reflects whether the demo average has gone up, down, or stayed the same.

W 18-34 demo rank	TV Shows	Average viewership (in millions)	Average 18-49 demo rating	Average women 18-34 demo	Compared to last week
1	The Vampire Diaries	3.38	1.6	2.5	---
2	America's Next Top Model (fall)	2.87	1.3	2.2	---
2	Gossip Girl	1.81	1.0	2.2	down
4	90210	1.89	1.0	1.8	---
4	One Tree Hill	1.95	1.0	1.8	---
6	Hellcats	2.16	0.9	1.6	---
7	Life Unexpected (cancelled)	1.52	0.7	1.3	---
8	Nikita	2.61	1.0	1.2	---
9	Supernatural	2.37	1.0	1.1	---
10	Smallville (ending)	2.71	1.1	1.0	---

The closer a show is to the bottom of the list, the closer it is to being cancelled (if it hasn’t been cancelled already like Life Unexpected). If it’s closer to the top of the list, it’s more likely to be renewed. Shows that are in the middle (“on the bubble”) can be a little tougher to call. Their future typically comes down to other factors like overall costs, contracts, who produces the show, and what new shows are on the horizon.

It should be noted that Friday nights are one of the least watched evenings of television so ratings for shows on that night are lower. The network understands this and takes it into account. However, regardless of when a show is aired, its production costs remain the same. Ultimately, it must still be profitable enough for the network to keep ordering more episodes.

Raw data: © The Nielsen Company via Media Week.

What do you think? Any surprises? Which shows do you think won’t survive to see a new season?