Below are the predictions for Week 15 of CBS Renew/Cancel, followed by an analysis. Let me know what you think by voting in the poll and leaving a comment!
LoterÃa Loca
Despite pulling it from the schedule in October, CBS still aired LoterÃa Loca’s Christmas special on Christmas Eve. It hit a new series low of a 0.12 Adults 18-49 Live + Same Day rating, down a tad from the 0.13 rating it received for its most recent airing on October 30. Its lead-in was identical in the ratings, with a rerun of Ghosts and a holiday special of Lingo both hitting a 0.20 A18-49 rating. Based on this rating, CBS isn’t about to change their mind on the early cancelation of LoterÃa Loca, a game show that has struggled since its premiere.
CSI: Vegas
CSI: Vegas returned to CBS’s schedule this past week, being rerun in its new Sundays at 10 pm time slot on Christmas Eve. Forced with airing directly after LoterÃa Loca, the rerun held up relatively well with a 0.11 Adults 18-49 Live + Same Day rating. While you can never look too much into the rating for a rerun, much less for one on a holiday, it’s certainly not a bad sign that this rerun did about as well as it could given the circumstances. It even grew in total viewers from its lead-in, with 940,000 viewers compared to LoterÃa Loca’s paltry 870,000. A second rerun did similarly solid given the circumstances on Saturday, December 30. Its 0.08 rating at 8 pm was in line with CBS’s nightly average. If original episodes perform with similar strength (not to be confused with similar ratings) to these reruns, CSI: Vegas could pleasantly surprise when it returns with original episodes in February.
Shows tend to not last longer than a season or two on CBS once moved to the Sundays at 10 pm time slot, hence the ‘Sunday night death slot’ moniker. CSI: Vegas will actually be the fourth show in the CSI franchise to be moved to this time slot. CSI: Miami had a two-year stint there in the early 2010s before being canceled. This was followed eventually by a one-season stint from CSI in the 2014-15 TV season before its cancelation, as well as the second and final season of the ill-fated CSI: Cyber in the season to follow. In fact, once CSI: Vegas returns with new episodes, the only CSI series to not air in the Sundays at 10 pm time slot is CSI: NY, which itself went out with three low-rated Friday seasons.
There’s plenty of precedent for CSI shows airing in this historically tough time slot, and CBS knew this when they opted to move their lowest-rated returning scripted series to the time slot. It is currently predicted to be renewed per the pre-season Power Rankings regardless of ratings. However, actually performing relatively well, as this week’s reruns proved it very well could, would solidify its case for a renewal.