Stalker: To Be Cancelled or Renewed for Season Two?

Earlier this season, CBS renewed newbie shows Scorpion, Madam Secretary, and NCIS: New Orleans for another season each. The network’s other new drama, Stalker, was glaringly missing from that list of early renewals. Is it doomed? Will Stalker be renewed for a second season or will it be cancelled instead?

A cop thriller, Stalker follows the work of the LAPD’s Threat Assessment Unit, a team that investigates incidents of stalking. The TV show stars Dylan McDermott, Maggie Q, Victor Rasuk, and Mariana Klaveno.

The series debuted in October to a 2.0 rating in the 18-49 demographic with 9.07 million viewers. It wasn’t exactly an impressive start for the new series and the ratings dropped 10-14% in week two. That wasn’t too bad of a decline and CBS ended up giving Stalker some time (a “full season” order) to prove itself.

Unfortunately, the ratings have been dwindling downward for most of the season. Last week’s episode hit a new low with a 1.2 rating in the demo and 6.74 million viewers. CBS has no shortage of successful crime/legal series and numbers like those are too low for CBS. The network could bring it back for a second season but that seems highly unlikely.

Last week’s installment was Stalker’s 17th episode and CBS supposedly only ordered 20 of them for the season. It’s unclear if or when the remaining trio of episodes will be shown. Saturday night airings seem like a natural move at this point.

New series CSI: Cyber — starring recent Oscar-winner Patricia Arquette — takes over the Wednesdays at 10pm timeslot next week. It’s a natural fit for lead-in Criminal Minds since both revolve around FBI units.

But, what do you think? Should CBS cancel Stalker or renew it for another season? Would you change the show to try to attract a larger audience?

4/1 update: Stalker returns on May 4th. Details here.