CW often belts shows out in the 2021-22 season with ratings between 0.05-0.10. This made All American's 0.23 debut jolting as it not only almost quadrupled most of their shows, but cracked into the Top 100 of 125 shows on the air. All American's ratings are indeed down from the prior season but demonstrate strong interest in the show. Only one episode has aired so a renewal prediction will wait until next week.
More noticeable is that episode matched A Million Little Things' series low this season, and consequently it is ABC's lowest-rated drama until Queens' final numbers are posted. In the prior season, ABC was a heavyweight in the drama category thanks to its winning block with Station 19, Grey's Anatomy and AMLT on Thursdays, plus a mild breakout hit with Big Sky on Tuesdays. This season, all have lost massive ground, most noticeable Grey's and Station 19 who have lost 30-35%. This dropped ABC's drama ranking from 2nd to 4th over one season. Given these drops, deciphering which dramas will be axed is tedious. The Rookie has been soft on Sundays, AMLT is hemorrhaging and Big Sky has collapsed and retains a paltry 55-60% of Grey's lead-in.
Consequently, CBS has stabilized by utilizing the formula for procedural franchises. Most of its helpings are delivering stable to above average, save for Bull and CSI: Vegas. Their impatient changes last year are paying off and they no longer resemble America's most tired network. FOX also rinsed and repeated last fall's strategy of testing out its weakest dramas in the fall behind decent to strong leads, both of which likely will be lopped off the schedule. Little changes occurred on NBC as their Chicago and Law & Order franchise blocks deliver strong on Wednesday and Thursday, and dramas are strewn throughout the schedule. La Brea made an impressive debut in This Is Us' vacant timeslot, but Ordinary Joe is under-performing in the post-Voice timeslot on Mondays. New Amsterdam and Blacklist are bombing, but life at NBC is mostly stable with 6 winning dramas.
