ABC Renew/Cancel Week 14: Will Trent Will Likely Remain on the Case

ABC's Tuesday night lineup remains strong, and all three entries continue to look promising to return as new multiplatform data comes in about their premieres. Keep reading for my updated thoughts on both Will Trent and The Rookie!

Certain Cancellation:
N/A

Likely Cancellation:
The Golden Bachelor (0.19, 0.16-0.28)

Leans Cancellation:
N/A

Leans Renewal:
The Rookie (0.28, 0.26-0.29)

Likely Renewal:

9-1-1 (0.33, 0.30-0.35)

9-1-1: Nashville (0.24, 0.18-0.29)

Celebrity Wheel of Fortune (0.23, 0.15-0.31)

The Great Christmas Light Fight (0.18, 0.14-0.22)

Grey's Anatomy (0.19, 0.13-0.27)

Shark Tank (0.15, 0.11-0.20)

Shifting Gears (0.37, 0.31-0.45)

Will Trent (0.37, 0.34-0.40)

Certain Renewal:

20/20 (0.17, 0.12-0.23)

Abbott Elementary (0.32, 0.26-0.43)

America's Funniest Home Videos (0.30, 0.24-0.39)

Dancing with the Stars (1.36, 1.02-2.06)

High Potential (0.35, 0.28-0.42)

Already Canceled/Ending:

Dirty Talk: When Daytime Talk Shows Ruled TV (Miniseries)

Coming Soon:

American Idol

The Bachelorette

Celebrity Jeopardy!

The Greatest Average American

RJ Decker

Scrubs

Will Trent: One of the great linear ratings success stories in recent years is Will Trent, which debuted as a fairly modest performer in a 10 PM slot that had long troubled ABC. What ABC saw was enough to warrant a time slot upgrade, and the show was leading ABC Tuesdays the next season, during a season truncated by the WGA and SAG strikes. It was another season of fairly decent ratings, coming in a bit below the league average that season, but still keeping ABC semi-competitive on Tuesday nights. It wasn't until the third season that Will Tent looked truly impressive, as it returned with a new series high after being paired up with breakout hit High Potential on a reformed Tuesday block, nearly matching that show's ratings. ABC partially credited that ratings surge to Hulu viewers, noting that Will Trent was a popular viewing choice for viewers who were watching High Potential on streaming. Will Trent did cool off as the season went on, and it was mostly down to the previous season's ratings, but it still ended the season up 2% year-to-year, in an era where most shows continue to sink year after year. This year, once it's been paired up with High Potential again, we're seeing ratings fairly similar to those at the beginning of last season, which is very promising. It's clearly a strong show in linear viewing. My only hangup, though, is that it continues to lag in multiplatform viewing. In the premiere MP+7 ratings released by ABC, Will Trent was nearly a full ratings point behind its Tuesday counterparts (1.05 in the demo, versus a 1.97 for both High Potential and The Rookie). It's also the least-watched of the trio, coming in 3.5 million viewers being High Potential and about half a million behind The Rookie, with 8.9 million viewers. That's a fairly solid total viewer stat (the third-highest of any ABC scripted series, only trailing its fellow Tuesday shows), but it's the lowest-rated premiere in the 18-49 demo, a full tenth behind Shifting Gears, which already stood out as being notably lower than the rest of the pack. That's why I'm not fully certain that Will Trent is a lock for renewal. It's doing well in linear ratings, and it does have a solid viewer base, but being ABC's lowest-rated scripted show in the demo in multiplatform ratings is a glaring negative, even if they are in a very healthy place overall. I don't think it's on the direct chopping block at all, but this is part of why I'm resisting an upgrade to certain renewal, even though it's fairly young compared to the rest of ABC's scripted department and rating pretty well on ABC linear. It remains a likely renewal.

The Rookie: On the other hand, The Rookie is beginning to look better and better as time goes by. It just hit a season high for its final Tuesday episode (or at least, final of the season), and its multiplatform ratings remain impressive. Matching ABC's standout hit High Potential for its premiere is an incredible feat, but it's even more impressive that this is said to be The Rookie's strongest premiere in both total viewers and the 18-49 demo since its season two premiere, back in 2019. A lot has changed in the tV landscape since then, and ratings have mostly cratered since then. The Rookie getting a 0.3 back then would've seen it widely ridiculed and labeled a flop. Its current average would've been bad enough to make it ABC's lowest-rated show that season, even below shows that aired in the summer. For The Rookie to be reaching multiplatform ratings on the level of seven years ago while starting out with significantly lower linear ratings is worth praising. After beginning last season confident The Rookie was ending soon, I'm now starting to feel confident it could have a few more seasons left in the tank. It seems to have more life in it than ABC's Thursday lineup, and it seems to only be getting more popular again. It isn't fully owned, which may still limit its lifespan, but it's clearly performing very well for ABC overall. I don't see a reason to expect it to end this season, and I could see it reaching double-digit seasons at this rate, something Nathan Fillion's previous ABC drama hit was unable to do. It still leans renewal for now, but I'm very impressed with its performance so far.

Interactive Schedule:

The TV Ratings Guide	8:00	8:30	9:00	10:00
Mon	American Idol			The Rookie
Tues	Will Trent		High Potential	Encores
Wed	Shifting Gears	Abbott Elementary	Dirty Talk	Shark Tank
Thurs	9-1-1		9-1-1: Nashville	Grey's Anatomy
Fri	Celebrity Wheel of Fortune		20/20
Sat	NBA Saturday Primetime
Sun	The Wonderful World of Disney