Will the Notorious TV series be cancelled soon? ABC has reduced the Notorious season one order to ten episodes. (photo: ABC/Bob D’Amico)

ABC has cut the Notorious TV show’s production order from 13 episodes to 10. Deadline reports this is not an “outright cancellation,” since the Alphabet Network plans to air all ten episodes. Maybe that seems like a good sign to hopeful fans, but it is not. Trimming the production order is the classic first step, in the peter-out approach to cancelling TV shows.

Written by Josh Berman and Allie Hagan, Notorious is based on the lives of cable news producer Wendy Walker and defense attorney Mark Geragos. The legal and media drama stars Piper Perabo, Daniel Sunjata, Kate Jennings Grant, Aimee Teegarden, and J. August Richards. Walker and Geragos executive produce.

Will ABC Cancel Notorious? A Look at the Numbers

First of all, the freshman series has not been a ratings powerhouse. As of episode 1.05 on October 20th, Notorious was averaging a 0.96 in the 18-49 year old viewer demographic. In addition, it has only been drawing  an average total audience of 4.378 million viewers.

Secondly, in the 2016-17 television season, we have been tracking the ratings for 19 scripted ABC series. Sorting by its number in the demo, Notorious places 14th, among ABC shows. Notorious ranks 13th, when we sort by average total audience size.

Furthermore, as a show ages, it naturally falls some in the ratings. Because the season one numbers are so anemic, it is unlikely ABC will renew Notorious for season two.

What do you think? Are you a Notorious fan? Do you think ABC should cancel Notorious or renew it for a second season? Sound off in the comments.