Certain Cancellation:
N/A
Likely Cancellation:
N/A
Leans Cancellation:
Doctor Odyssey (0.30, 0.22-0.40)
Leans Renewal:
N/A
Already Ending:
The Conners
Yet to Premiere:
The Rookie
Shifting Gears
Will Trent
Grey's Anatomy: Once a dominant show, the crown jewel of ABC's schedule, Grey's Anatomy has now fallen into a state of disrepair, at least in the ratings. This is quite a new development. Just last season, Grey's averaged 0.43 in the demo, with a season low of 0.35, putting it above the league average. It was still a strong performer in the demo, a highlight for ABC that helped make Thursdays one of their stronger nights. This year, it moved to 10, and it got a new lead-in, and all hell broke loose. It returned with a new low, though that 0.30 premiere was still a respectable showing for a 10 PM show. Things got better the week after, as it rose a tick and retained 100% of its lead-in, a far more impressive datapoint than the 75% retention it posted just a week prior. It sunk after that, and it's been on life support since then. It hit a new series low last week, a 0.19. That was after a 0.27 showing for lead-in Doctor Odyssey, a reversal of fortune after Grey's grew from it the prior episode. Clearly, Grey's has seen better days. Just five shows on the big four currently rate lower than it this season, and only two shows have worse year-to-year trends, as Grey's has plunged a staggering 47% from last season. You can partially excuse that drop due to a far worse time slot, airing at the undesirable 10 PM hour and going from a strong 9-1-1 lead-in to a weak Doctor Odyssey lead-in. However, this is one of the longest-running shows on TV, a legendary show, and you'd expect it to be able to hold up a bit better than this. The question is, though: does it matter? I'd guess that it doesn't. We haven't received any streaming data on Grey's this year, so maybe it's completely collapsed on there as well, but last season, it was a dominant force on streaming. Even with a drop on streaming, it's likely still one of the stronger shows that ABC has (not that they have many) in that metric. It still seems to do well on Hulu, based on its continuing presence on they Hulu streaming charts. When you add in its international deals, the abysmal linear performance is surely offset by these other facts, meaning the show is likely still very valuable for ABC. Even if the financial side was beginning to look dicey, this is one show that I can't imagine them possibly canceling without giving it a proper farewell. Its legacy is too important to simply cancel it. They have time to give it a Good Wife-esque mid-year final season announcement, and give it a farewell run when it returns for the rest of its season in March, but it's very likely still safe. Season 22 could be the end, but this current season is very unlikely to be the last we see of Grey's. It remains a LIKELY RENEWAL, with the lack of streaming data and its paltry linear ratings keeping me from being 100% certain of its return.
| The TV Ratings Guide | 8:00 | 8:30 | 9:00 | 9:30 | 10:00 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Tues | Dancing with the Stars | High Potential | ||||
| Wed | The Golden Bachelorette | Abbott Elementary | What Would You Do? | |||
| Thurs | 9-1-1 | Doctor Odyssey | Grey's Anatomy | |||
| Fri | Shark Tank | 20/20 | ||||
