Which NBC TV shows will be cancelled or renewed for the 2011-12 season? In large part this depends on a show’s ratings, particularly the 18-49 demographic. The lower the ratings, the more likely a show is to be cancelled.
Before we get to the season-to-date averages, here are the winners and losers of the last seven days — in terms of the coveted 18-49 demographic, as measured against the last original episode.
Week-to-Week Winners: Dateline (+46.2% Friday episode vs last Sunday’s), Perfect Couples (+7.1%), and Parks and Recreation (+4.2%).
No change: Who Do You Think You Are? (new) and Chuck.
Week-to-Week Losers: The Cape (-13.3%), Harry’s Law (-19.0%), The Biggest Loser (-9.1%), Parenthood (-13.6%), Minute to Win It (-29.2%), Law & Order: SVU (-10.3%), Community (-10.0%), The Office (-5.4%), 30 Rock (-4.2%), and Outsourced (-5.6%).
For a complete list of NBC cancellations and renewals for the 2010-11 season, be sure to check out this post. It’ll be updated as the peacock network renews and cancels more shows.
Below is a list of the regular NBC TV shows and their 2010-11 season average ratings to date. It only incorporates the ratings for original episodes that have aired this season, not repeats. The data is sorted by the 18-49 demographic averages, the group that advertisers will pay the most to reach and, therefore, the audience most important to the network. The “compared to” column reflects whether the demo average has gone up, down, or stayed the same since last week.
| Demo rank | Scripted TV Shows | Average viewership (in millions) |
Average 18-49 demo rating |
Compared to last week |
|
| 1 | The Office | 7.47 | 3.8 | --- | |
| 2 | Parks and Recreation | 5.49 | 2.8 | down | |
| 3 | Law & Order: SVU | 8.57 | 2.5 | --- | |
| 3 | 30 Rock (renewed) | 5.24 | 2.5 | --- | |
| 3 | Outsourced | 5.16 | 2.4 | down | |
| 6 | Law & Order: LA | 8.24 | 2.2 | --- | |
| 6 | The Event | 6.86 | 2.2 | --- | |
| 8 | Parenthood | 5.38 | 2.1 | --- | |
| 9 | Harry's Law | 10.43 | 2.0 | down | |
| 9 | Community | 4.57 | 2.0 | --- | |
| 11 | Chuck | 5.53 | 1.9 | --- | |
| 12 | The Cape | 6.09 | 1.8 | down | |
| 13 | Perfect Couples | 3.46 | 1.6 | --- | |
| 14 | Chase | 5.26 | 1.5 | --- | |
| 15 | Undercovers (cancelled) | 5.97 | 1.4 | --- | |
| 16 | Outlaw (cancelled) | 4.94 | 1.0 | --- | |
| Demo rank | News or Reality TV Shows | Average viewership (in millions) |
Average 18-49 demo rating |
Compared to last week |
|
| 1 | The Biggest Loser (winter/spring) | 8.84 | 3.1 | down | |
| 2 | The Sing Off | 8.56 | 2.9 | --- | |
| 3 | The Biggest Loser (fall) | 7.44 | 2.7 | --- | |
| 4 | Minute to Win It | 6.34 | 1.9 | --- | |
| 5 | The Apprentice | 3.89 | 1.4 | --- | |
| 6 | Who Do You Think You Are? | 7.31 | 1.3 | new | |
| 6 | Dateline | 5.91 | 1.3 | --- | |
| 8 | School Pride | 2.50 | 0.7 | --- | |
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 Outlaw and Undercovers). 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.
The list has been separated into two sections. Of the two, scripted programming is the most expensive. News and reality TV shows are less expensive to produce but the networks can’t program just news/reality (though they might like to since they are less of a financial risk).
It should be noted that Friday and Saturday nights are the least watched evenings of television so ratings for shows on those nights are lower. The networks understand this and take 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? Do any of the rankings surprise you? Which shows do you think won’t survive to see a new season?
Image courtesy NBC.
Come on NBC… do not cancel “Harry’s Law”. I was my favorite new show. How can Katthy Bates not draw a crowd? Give it a chance. Find another time slot!!!
Please do not cancel ‘Harry’s Law’ it is one of the few shows that are worth watching – the actors are good, the plots are interesting and it is all wrapped up with a wonderful actress – an academy award winner no less – and one that I love to watch. I am appalled that you would think of taking it off the air – it’s a breath of fresh air in your stale line-up!
HARRY’S LAW IS ONE OF THE BEST SHOW…. GET RID OF THE CAPE!
the only thing keeping me from not watching NBC is chuck. NBC has been trying to get rid of chuck since the second season.if it wasnt for the great fans it wouldnt be around.NBC gots crap for shows ,spinoffs of other shows reality shows being rammed down are throats an just plain crap an you wonder why NBC has rating problems.NBC programing sucks an do something about it before its to late
Chuck is the only show left on NBC that we find is worth watching. We have watched and enjoyed this show from the beginning but unfortunately with NBC basically destroying themselves by cancelling good programs like Chase and many more before they have a chance to gain fans and fewrer and fewer people are willing to even check out the shows on this network fans are not discovering the good programs on NBC. I hope they are not dumb enough to cancel this program and I do hope they will begin to give aother good programs a chance and put… Read more »
Now you want to cancel HARRY’S LAW??? Who is actually programming these shows? The sad thing these days is there is so much crap in these stupid, senseless reality shows about people NO ONE really cares about, that none of the powers-that-be in network programming actually seem to pay attention to what the PEOPLE WANT!!! It’s almost like the federal government with their wag-the-dog policy. Let’s give the masses more crap and just shove it down their throats. Never mind that people DO have favorite shows that are creative, innovative and really wonderful. You need to go backwards and let… Read more »
I think it’s obvious that it doesn’t matter what is really good in television. Most reality tv is junk or smut, but it obviously agrees with what the producers want to spend so I guess that dictates the kind of garbage tv we are to expect in our future. REALLY SAD. Doesn’t say much for future television. Wish more people would speak up, especailly those with a brain.