Below are the Week 13 predictions for CBS Renew/Cancel, followed by an analysis. Underneath that is this week’s poll and an interactive schedule, where you can create and share your own predictions. Let us know what you think in the comments!
Prediction Changes
-Hollywood Squares is upgraded from Leans Renew to Likely Renew
-Raid the Cage is downgraded from Leans Renew to Leans Cancel

Week 13 Predictions
CBS has announced a new spinoff of FBI is in development. FBI: CIA will be a backdoor pilot on the main series later this season, with the option to be ordered to series for the 2025-26 TV season. The backdoor pilot will be co-written by FBI franchise creator Dick Wolf along with, among others, FBI: Most Wanted showrunner David Hudgens. If ordered to series, one could use that piece of information to make the argument that CBS will replace with Hudgens-run FBI: Most Wanted with FBI: CIA; or, one could go the opposite direction and find the two series to be companions, leaving FBI: International to be either canceled or sent off to another night.
While it’s possible the backdoor pilot doesn’t pan out the way CBS hopes, it currently looks more likely than not that FBI: CIA is on track for a series order. It would allow CBS to keep an all-FBI Tuesday even in the absence of one of the existing spinoffs. With FBI: International and FBI: Most Wanted performing similarly, CBS is much more likely to keep the cheaper one that’s close to a syndication-friendly episode count than the more expensive one that has more than enough episodes for syndication.
Canceling an FBI spinoff only to replace it with another FBI spinoff may sound far-fetched, but there’s recent precedent to show this is the direction CBS is headed in. Just this season they replaced the canceled NCIS: Hawai’i with NCIS: Origins, and premiered Georgie & Mandy’s First Marriage in Young Sheldon’s old time slot. They may also be considering a similar move with spinoffs of The Neighborhood and The Equalizer in development. Neither FBI spinoff really deserves to be canceled from a ratings standpoint, but neither have a whole lot of potential for growth either. FBI: CIA, as clunky as the title is, sounds like something CBS could be eyeing to spawn a franchise of its own. In fact, if FBI: CIA is ordered to series and does reasonably well, I wouldn’t be surprised to see the FBI franchise gradually replaced by the CIA franchise.
FBI: Most Wanted will remain in Leans Cancel this week, with FBI: International remaining in Leans Renew. While I predict Most Wanted will be the unlucky spinoff, International has its vulnerabilities. What’s very likely, but not certain given FBI: CIA has not been ordered to series yet, is that one of the two spinoffs gets canceled.
Hollywood Squares and Raid The Cage
Raid The Cage started off its second season promising, looking to be the filler unscripted programming that CBS could use in the future. However, it’s since looked less impressive, only garnering a 0.23 Adults 18-49 Live + Same Day rating with 2.26 million viewers airing after The Price Is Right At Night, which notched a 0.33 demo rating with 3.66 million viewers. In its hour, it rated much closer to last-place FOX than second-place ABC among the Big 4 broadcast networks. It’s now being demoted to 10 pm, where Hollywood Squares was originally supposed to air. I expect its ratings to dip further in the less-than-optimal time slot, and could even dip below a 0.20 demo rating — something Raid The Cage is familiar with from its stint on Friday from its earliest episodes. It gets downgraded to Leans Cancel this week, but could get bumped back up if it surprises at 10 pm.
Hollywood Squares has been given much more preferential treatment, airing after the NFL playoffs and now given the 8 pm time slot on Wednesdays at the last minute. It’s done well so far on Thursdays, and I expect it will do at least as well in a time slot that’s typically favorable for unscripted programming on CBS. This makes its renewal prediction more confident, being bumped up from Leans Renew to Likely Renew.
Poll
Interactive Schedule
The TV Ratings Guide | 8:00 | 8:30 | 9:00 | 9:30 | 10:00 |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Mon | The Neighborhood | Poppa’s House | NCIS | NCIS: Origins | |
Tues | FBI | FBI: International | FBI: Most Wanted | ||
Wed | Hollywood Squares | The Price Is Right At Night | Raid The Cage | ||
Thurs | Georgie & Mandy’s First Marriage | Ghosts | Matlock | Elsbeth | |
Fri | NCIS: Sydney | Fire Country | S.W.A.T. | ||
Sun | Tracker | The Equalizer | Encores |
Renewed
Certain Renew
Likely Renew
Leans Renew
Tilts Renew
Tilts Cancel
Leans Cancel
Likely Cancel
Certain Cancel
Canceled