1. What is Going on With ABC?
I get it. There's a new president at ABC Entertainment, and her name is Channing Dungey. She pulled a bloodbath by canceling every low rated show not named The Catch or American Crime. Fast forward to this season and ABC drama ratings have eroded to the point of no return. While The Catch has held up, American Crime tanked at the rating that fellow CW shows Arrow, DC's Legends of Tomorrow, and Supernatural have now hit: a 0.5 in adults 18-49. Premiering at one tenth higher than defacto canceled Conviction's Sunday episodes is not a good thing no matter how critically acclaimed the show is.
Except for Designated Survivor, all of their new shows have been dead on arrival. The woes of the newbies are partially the reason why almost half of ABC's lineup is performing fractional. Could Dungey pull another bloodbath and cancel all of their low rated drama lineup? Probably not The Catch, since it was renewed at fractional ratings last season.
I may need to explain more on this in a future installment.
2. This Week in...Quickie Renewals!
Shades of Blue was renewed for a third season by NBC after two episodes. Currently fractional, it is in a difficult timeslot: Sunday 10pm, where ratings erode. However, it rests with a respectable lead in in Chicago Justice. This renewal news signals not only as a reflection of the continuing working relationship with Jennifer Lopez, but it also may signal that NBC is not waiting until next season to see if any drama would perform better than the show on Sunday.
Last week, Riverdale and The 100 were renewed about a day apart from each other. With my guess, the CW is not going to wait until it sees The Originals' or iZombie's numbers. It could also mean that the network is not confident about pilot development. However, I still believe that the CW will cancel one more show in addition to The Vampire Diaries, Reign, and the two newbies: No Tomorrow and Frequency, which remain certain to be canceled on the CW Renew/Cancel Watch.
Anything to talk about for the next installment? Let's discuss in the comments below!
