This week on the CBS Renew/Cancel, good news for one freshman show may prove disastrous for another, as CBS makes its priorities clear. Plus, the CBS Renew/Cancel March Madness returns for another year!
Prediction Key:
Week 16 Predictions:
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| Shows' 18-49 demo average and weekly peak performance on Paramount+ are listed in parenthesis |
CIA: Ratings-wise, it was another decent enough week for CIA, as the show rose to a 0.22 in the key 18-49 demo on Monday, its highest rating yet. It did so with the help of a rising FBI, which it its own season high this week as it continues to find its groove in this stretch of the season. It doesn't feel coincidental that FBI is rising now that it's paired with CIA, but it remains to be seen whether CBS cares. They seem to be moving past the FBI franchise as a whole, and they've given CIA the cold shoulder. While rushing to (rightfully) boast about Marshals' strong premiere in both linear and multiplatform ratings, they've been totally silent about CIA. There's not been a single press release about this show's performance, which is unusual for CBS, which is always quick to heap praise onto whatever show they're airing at the moment - particularly new shows. It was already looking bad when we saw how many shows CBS renewed before CIA even premiered, but now they can't even be bothered to pretend to care about this show or how it's performing. CBS is a network that often seems to make decisions in advance and then find a reason to back up those decisions later. Last season, they renewed Watson despite poor ratings because they had seemingly decided in advance that they weren't giving up on it after just a season. Poppa's House performed OK enough, but they never made much of an effort with it, because they already had a replacement lined up for it and weren't about to deviate from those plans. Several veteran shows have been canceled despite performing decently, because CBS decided it was time to move on. So CBS being bored of CIA from the very start is not a good sign for it at all. If CBS isn't making an effort, and truly has no room for it (they've got several new dramas already lined up, and no dramas have been angled so far this season), then they seem to be fully intending to cancel it. CBS renewed Marshals already his week, which really highlights the difference between how they've handled its launch versus how they handled CIA's. Marshals is obviously a far stronger performer, but even before the premiere, it was clearly the priority for CBS. Now, they're renewing it before they've even announced any multiplatform data on CIA. CBS can easily point to CIA's mediocre retention of its parent show (it's averaging 65% retention over its first three episodes, which isn't exactly fantastic), and the fact that they don't own it fully, to justify the decision they seemingly made months ago. CIA is a likely cancellation already, a victim of circumstances outside its own doing.
Hollywood Squares: After a winter run on Wednesday at 8 PM and later 9 PM, Hollywood Squares has now settled into the time slot CBS announced it was moving to last May: Wednesday at 10:30. That's not a great slot, especially when your lead-in is a flop cooking show nobody's watching. It was rewarded with a 0.14 in the key demo, which is somehow not a new series low, but that sure doesn't mean this was a strong performance. A large part of why Hollywood Squares has been listed as a likely cancellation was the expectation that it was going to struggle in this time slot, which is not exactly the slot you'd stick a show you think has a bright, long future on your network. Even with Survivor 50 widely anticipated to be a huge success for CBS (and it has certainly delivered on that expectation), the 10:30 scheduling of Hollywood Squares seemed to just be CBS giving up. They didn't have a 90-minute reality show to put behind Survivor, so they stuck a half-hour game show there and called it a day. CBS's post-Survivor Wednesday night struggles reflect the effort they put into crafting this schedule. While it had a poor lead-in to begin with, Hollywood Squares' low ratings can't simply be ignored. It was struggling even before this move, and things probably won't perk up from here. If CBS expected this show to be strong enough to hold up when thrown to the wolves, they were wrong. It's another weak filler show that they just don't really need, and with nearly a year to go until the next spring Survivor season launches, they can easily find something stronger to air behind it than this. preferably, something 90 minutes long. Its only real hope to return is for another run as a bridge program between Survivor seasons on Wednesdays, and I still don't think it's needed for that. It's still a likely cancellation.
Marshals: We only just talked about this show for the first time last week, and CBS has already renewed it. It's not a surprise, as shows that premiere this strong are often quickly renewed, but it's impressive nonetheless. CBS has so many reasons to be happy about this show's strong launch, as it's been tumultuous season for them, and none of their other new shows have been huge linear hits (Sheriff Country, while solid, isn't quite on this level). Their Sunday nights were already pretty strong thanks to Tracker, but they've taken it to another level now, with two hit shows. Whether Marshals holds up entirely - and whether it and Tracker remain scheduled together next season - remains to be seen, but this show's launch is a huge win for CBS. This is a correct prediction, and a very obvious one at that.
CBS Renew/Cancel March Madness:
Today marks the beginning of the CBS Renew/Cancel March Madness tournament, our annual event in which our readers can vote for their favorite CBS series, with the shows that gain the most votes in each matchup advancing until just one show is left standing at the end. With two-time reigning champion SWAT now ended, there will be a new champion this year. Marshals ranks as the #1 seed, just two weeks into its existence, thanks to a combination of being CBS's highest-rated series and already being renewed. Meanwhile, the already-canceled The Neighborhood ranks as the #17, while CBS's lowest-rated bubble show, Watson, will face it in a play-in round that will be played simultaneously with the Sweet Sixteen round. Fire Country, meanwhile, fins itself as the #10 seed this year after having been the champion of the first-ever contest. Will it have a Cinderella run that sees it reclaim its title now that SWAT is out of the way? Or will we have a new champion this year? You can vote in all nine matches below until next week, when the seventeen current shows will be whittled down to just eight remaining contenders.
