Last year, the freshman outing of the Instinct TV show ran on CBS as a mid-season replacement. Although it didn’t do all that well in the Nielsen ratings, it wasn’t cancelled. Now that the procedural is back for a second season, will it thrive and grow its audience as a summer TV series, or die on the vine? Will Instinct be cancelled or renewed for season three? Stay tuned. *Status update below.
A CBS crime thriller based on the James Patterson novel, Murder Games, Instinct stars Alan Cumming, Bojana Novakovic, Daniel Ings, Naveen Andrews, and Sharon Leal. The drama centers on Dr. Dylan Reinhart (Cumming), a former CIA operative who is lured out of his peaceful retirement as a university professor and author, to help NYPD Detective Lizzie Needham (Novakovic) catch a serial killer. Dylan’s old CIA colleague, Julian Cousins (Andrews), lends a hand, along with Lizzie’s C.O., Lt. Jasmine Gooden (Leal). Season two kicks off with Dylan reinstated as NYPD consultant, where he can at turns impress and irritate Lizzie. Meanwhile, Dylan’s husband, Andy (Ings), pursues adoption as a way for the couple to finally become parents.
The ratings are typically the best indication of a show’s likelihood of staying on the air. The higher the ratings (particularly in the 18-49 demo), the better the chances for survival. This chart will be updated as new ratings data becomes available — typically around 11:30am EST/8:30am PST. Refresh to see the latest.
8/26 update: You can see the latest night’s ratings in context.
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For comparisons: The first season of Instinct on CBS averaged a 0.63 rating in the 18-49 year old demographic and 6.664 million total viewers.
Note: These are the Live + Same Day Ratings which include “live” viewing plus delayed DVR viewing, up until 3am local time that same night. Ratings marked with an “*” are the fast affiliate ratings and will be updated with the Live+SD numbers when they are made available. Typically, networks get paid for C+3 ratings which includes DVR viewing within three days of the original airing when commercials are watched. Those numbers are rarely released to the press.
What do you think? Do you like the Instinct TV series? Should it be cancelled or renewed for third season on CBS?
*8/17/19 update: CBS has cancelled the Instinct TV show.
Please don’t cancel. We faithfully watch this show. Love the actors in this series. And the story lines are current with society today. We are in the 50-90 age group. We are usually the people watching the most tv, in my opinion.
It really makes me angry when a really great show is dropped, and yet they keep the dumb reality shows. We all know why it was dropped DON’T WE???? The Batchelor/Batchelorette is nothing but a pimp show. The Island crap is another way to watch cheating partners get a little strange all in the name of a TV Show.
Leave Instinct on! Great characters and plots. Best thing on Sunday nights. Third season, PLEASE. Left alone to develop it could be a NCIS.
Should not be cancelled. Characters are interesting and show is well written.
Please do not cancel this show! Instinct is so different and so good! It needs to be given a chance. CBS has a habit of not giving new shows a chance . Don’t do it again!
Give the show a chance this show is soooooo Good you guys are taking a good show off and leaving some shows on that is a HOT MESS !!!!
I love the show , Alan Cummings is brilliant and lizzie makes the perfect fit. Their chemistry is spot on. It has also crossed barriers in the Gay world. Finally a happily married Gay couple which is very tastefully done. I’m heartbroken that people don’t just listen and see how well this show is laid out .The characters are flawless .it would be a sin to cancel such an awesome show.
CBS – why cancel a show that speaks to both sides of our brains. INSTINCT is intelligent AND entertaining. It is also not loaded with the pap of reality shows that are NOT appealing to a lot of the public that watch your channel. HEY EXECUTIVES, there are plenty of us who do not care if the rose is given to whoever, or the hormones are fulfilled by whoever. PLEASE there are more things on the minds of viewers than presented in those kinds of shows. Such as following along as a conundrum is solved. PLEASE, CBS, I appeal to… Read more »
Why CBS why? You always cancel the best shows before their time is up. It’s really starting to annoy me as all CBS shows I have watched religiously have been cancelled in the last 4 years.
Please don’t cancel Instinct I love that show
Boo CBS!! Instinct is a wonderful show!! My husband and I watch it together every week! SO suspenseful!!! You made the wrong decision by canceling it!
I was initially concerned it would get cancelled this season because the first three episodes were the lowest rated episodes this season. As the ratings continued to rise, my wife and I began to anticipate a renewal. Instinct’s highest rating (0.4) was achieved on three of the final five episodes. It appears to me they made the decision to cancel by mid-July because you don’t decided to cancel a show when it is getting its best ratings of the season.
I love Instinct. It wins the best actor award and best writing award. Usually CBS has more sense tha to cancel this show
I am very angry that a show like Instinct is being canceled !!! It is such a interesting show with a plot line that keeps you coming back for more !! Like a good book you just can’t put down ! I love all the characters and their interactions. I pray Netflix or another channel will pick it up. So friggin tired of reality shows and people airing their personal life such pathetic desperate people. We dont watch them in our house nor do we allow anyone else to watch them in our house ! BRING IT BACK SOMEONE PLEASE.
Look at the 50 to 65 demo, not just the younger set. We also watched The Good Wife and The Good Fight, Longmire Elementary and Castle …all good procedurals, if a bit formulaic but with strong casts, interesting scripts, and enough of both humor and drama to keep uou coming back every week. PLEASE UNCANCEL INSTINCT!!