The ratings for FOX’s Glee series have been dropping for awhile. Will they fall low enough to see the TV series cancelled? That’s the real drama.

These are the TV show’s ratings for the 2012-13 season, the best way to tell if Glee is going to be cancelled or renewed for season five.

The fourth season of Glee typically airs Thursday nights at 9pm on the FOX network. The large cast includes Amber Riley, Chord Overstreet, Chris Colfer, Cory Monteith, Darren Criss, Dianna Agron, Harry Shum, Heather Morris, Jane Lynch, Jayma Mays, Jenna Ushkowitz, Kevin McHale, Lea Michele, Mark Salling, Matthew Morrison, and Naya Rivera.

These figures will be updated as the weeks progress so be sure to bookmark and return to this page:

Final season averages: 2.2 rating in the 18-49 demographic with 5.86 million total viewers.

Episode 04-22: Thursday, 05/09/13
2.0 in the demo (+5% change) with 5.92 million (+14% change).
Season averages: 2.21 in the demo with 5.86 million.

Episode 04-21: Thursday, 05/02/13
1.9 in the demo (+6% change) with 5.19 million (-1% change).
Season averages: 2.22 in the demo with 5.86 million.

Episode 04-20: Thursday, 04/25/13
1.8 in the demo (-14% change) with 5.24 million (-15% change).
Season averages: 2.23 in the demo with 5.89 million.

UPDATE: FOX has renewed Glee for two more seasons.

Episode 04-19: Thursday, 04/18/13
2.1 in the demo (-13% change) with 6.14 million (-8% change).
Season averages: 2.26 in the demo with 5.92 million.

Episode 04-18: Thursday, 04/11/13
2.4 in the demo (+20% change) with 6.67 million (+13% change).
Season averages: 2.27 in the demo with 5.91 million.

Episode 04-17: Thursday, 03/21/13
2.0 in the demo (0% change) with 5.91 million (+10% change).
Season averages: 2.26 in the demo with 5.87 million.

Episode 04-16: Thursday, 03/14/13
2.0 in the demo (-17% change) with 5.37 million (-20% change).
Season averages: 2.27 in the demo with 5.87 million.

Episode 04-15: Thursday, 03/07/13 (special 9:30pm time)
2.4 in the demo (+41% change) with 6.72 million (+31% change).
Season averages: 2.29 in the demo with 5.90 million.

Episode 04-14: Thursday, 02/14/13
1.7 in the demo (-23% change) with 5.13 million (-15% change).
Season averages: 2.29 in the demo with 5.84 million.

Episode 04-13: Thursday, 02/07/13
2.2 in the demo (+5% change) with 6.03 million (+10% change).
Season averages: 2.33 in the demo with 5.89 million.

Episode 04-12: Thursday, 01/31/13
2.1 in the demo (-19% change) with 5.48 million (-19% change).
Season averages: 2.34 in the demo with 5.88 million.

Episode 04-11: Thursday, 01/24/13
2.6 in the demo (+30% change) with 6.79 million (+29% change).
Season averages: 2.36 in the demo with 5.92 million.

Episode 04-10: Thursday, 12/13/12
2.0 in the demo (-9% change) with 5.26 million (-3% change).
Season averages: 2.34 in the demo with 5.83 million.

Episode 04-09: Thursday, 12/06/12
2.2 in the demo (0% change) with 5.43 million (+1% change).
Season averages: 2.38 in the demo with 5.90 million.

Episode 04-08: Thursday, 11/29/12
2.2 in the demo (+47% change) with 5.39 million (+17% change).
Season averages: 2.40 in the demo with 5.96 million.

Episode 04-07: Thursday, 11/22/12
1.5 in the demo (-29% change) with 4.62 million (-12% change).
Season averages: 2.43 in the demo with 6.04 million.

Episode 04-06: Thursday, 11/15/12
2.1 in the demo (-13% change) with 5.22 million (-8% change).
Season averages: 2.58 in the demo with 6.27 million.

Episode 04-05: Thursday, 11/08/12
2.4 in the demo (-8% change) with 5.68 million (-6% change).
Season averages: 2.68 in the demo with 6.48 million.

Episode 04-04: Thursday, 10/04/12
2.6 in the demo (+8% change) with 6.07 million (+5% change).
Season averages: 2.75 in the demo with 6.68 million.

Episode 04-03: Thursday, 09/27/12
2.4 in the demo (-17% change) with 5.79 million (-22% change).
Season averages: 2.80 in the demo with 6.89 million.

Episode 04-02: Thursday, 09/20/12
2.9 demo rating (-7% change) with 7.46 million (+1% change).
Season averages: 3.00 in the demo with 7.44 million.

Episode 04-01: Thursday, 09/13/12
3.1 rating in the 18-49 demographic with 7.41 million total viewers.
Season averages: 3.10 in the demo with 7.41 million.

On a new night, with only medium competition, the fourth season premiere of Glee was down significantly year-to-year. In the demo, the series was down by 23% (vs a 4.0 rating) and was down by 20% in total viewers (vs 9.21 million). On their own, the numbers are still very good but one has to wonder how they bode for the rest of the season.

Reference point: The 2011-12 season averaged a 3.0 rating in the 18-49 demographic and 7.31 million viewers.

Note: These ratings are collected by the Nielsen company and are the final national numbers. These are different from the fast affiliate numbers which are just estimates of the actual ratings and are reported on by most other outlets. The final nationals are typically released within 24 hours of the programming or, in the case of weekends and holidays, a couple days later.

What do you think? Do you like the Glee TV series? Do you think it should be cancelled or renewed for a fifth season?