In part because of the pandemic, NBC aired a mixture of original and acquired scripted series during the regular 2020-21 television season. The peacock network cancelled some of the originals and renewed others. Which TV shows will draw big ratings and survive the 2021-22 season? Stay tuned.
NBC shows this season (so far): America’s Got Talent: Extreme, American Auto, The Blacklist, Chicago Fire, Chicago Med, Chicago PD, The Courtship, The Endgame, Grand Crew, Home Sweet Home, Kenan, La Brea, Law & Order, Law & Order: Organized Crime, Law & Order: SVU, Mr. Mayor, New Amsterdam, Ordinary Joe, That’s My Jam, The Thing About Pam, This Is Us, Transplant, The Voice, Weakest Link, and Young Rock.
There’s lots of data that NBC execs look at when deciding whether to renew or cancel a TV series but the ratings are typically the biggest piece. Here’s how the network’s 2021-22 TV shows are doing.
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Some notes about these charts:
These figures are updated automatically as new ratings are released. The averages are based on the final national numbers (live plus same-day viewing), unless marked with an asterisk (*). For technical reasons, I have to resort them manually. While these numbers don’t include further delayed or streaming viewing, they are a very good indicator of how a show is performing, especially when compared to others on the same channel. There can be other economic factors involved in a show’s fate, but typically the higher-rated series are renewed and the lower-rated ones are cancelled.
Keep in mind that the demo numbers are typically what’s most important to advertisers. Therefore, that’s how the networks measure success. Advertisers pay more for ad time on a show that has a higher demo rating. Older viewers also matter but younger viewers watch less traditional TV and are therefore harder to reach. Delayed viewing matters more and more these days (if commercials are watched) but live viewing is still advertisers’ ideal.
Demo numbers are typically reported using the 10ths decimal place (2.4, for example). In the averages, I’m using an extra decimal for easier ranking. The networks take into account when shows air on Fridays and Saturdays, nights when TV viewership is lower.
What do you think? Are you surprised by any of the ratings? Which 2021-22 shows should be doing better? Which one do you think will be cancelled next?
