Certain Cancellation:
N/A
Likely Cancellation:
N/A
Leans Cancellation:
Line of Fire (0.21, 0.17-0.24)
Leans Renewal:
Law & Order (0.26)
Likely Renewal:
The Traitors: New Blood (0.30, 0.24-0.37)
The Voice (0.38, 0.29-0.44)
Certain Renewal:
Chicago Fire (0.46)
Chicago Med (0.46)
Chicago PD (0.35)
Dateline NBC (0.22, 0.20-0.24)
Law & Order: SVU (0.42)
Saturday Night Live (0.76, 0.81-0.71)
Coming Soon:
The Fall and Rise of Reggie Dinkins
Happy's Place
Newlyweds
The Rockford Files
St. Denis Medical
Sunset PI
Law & Order: NBC's revival of Dick Wolf's legendary crime procedural has been the subject of a lot of speculation over the last season or so. It's never been a huge hit, but it's slipped closer and closer to concerning territory in recent years. Last year, it felt like it was clearly on the bubble - as NBC renewed every other Dick Wolf series, it was left to wait for a renewal that didn't come until just days before NBC announced their schedule. Its streaming performance has historically been much weaker than SVU and the Chicago series, and it has always felt like the most vulnerable Wolf series. With a Wolf-produced pilot in development, it definitely looked like a possibility that it was being replaced before our eyes. In the end, it did get that renewal, becoming the last scripted show to snag a renewal last season. However, the news wasn't all rosy - as expected, the show moved from the cushy 8 PM hour to 10 PM to make room for new series at 8 (The Traitors and The Rockford Files).
Last week, it was a pretty mixed return for Law & Order. Its 0.26 rating was pretty respectable for a 10 PM series - higher than Line of Fire (which itself isn't doing all that bad) and most 10 PM series on the other networks (only NCIS: Origins rated higher at 10 last week). It was also up from its premiere last season, when it returned to a 0.23 (a series low at the time). However, it retained just 62% of SVU, which surged year-to-year and hit its highest rating in multiple seasons. It's unlikely that SVU will remain that strong all season, so 60% retention of SVU won't always result in a rating that is respectable in a vacuum.
This is definitely a stronger return than I had anticipated, but Law & Order isn't out of the clear yet. I won't base my prediction off of the ratings I anticipate seeing in the coming weeks, but I don't expect it to hold at 0.26 for very long. For one, it had no competition on ABC last week, but Grey's Anatomy premieres this week. Grey's is not the powerhouse it once was, but it's still competition for Law & Order, which can't really stand to drop too far from here. We'll see where Law & Order winds up, and I still think this may well be its final season, but it starts with some hope. It leans renewal.
The Traitors: New Blood: After a tepid start that I labeled disappointing, The Traitors: New Blood made its debut alongside the rest of the Thursday night lineup last week. That rating was surely not disappointing. Its 0.37 premiere was a new series high, and nearly a tenth ahead of anything Law & Order did in the time slot the previous season (and over a tenth above its premiere). It was a bit lower than The Voice's surprisingly-strong premiere (and several other episodes), so it's not NBC's highest-rated reality series this season, but it's still really impressive. It's an especially notable accomplishment considering that it came two weeks after its previous episode, which drew just a 0.24. Whether its increase is due to the lack of reality competition (Big Brother aired against the last four episodes, though that show is somewhat famous for having an independent audience), the fact that NBC's premieres are now in full swing (it was on a bit of an island of its own before, with summer show America's Got Talent still occupying Tuesdays and Wednesdays), or from the Peacock audience catching up (NBC sure has liked to brag about how many people have tuned into the show on streaming), this is a great development for the show. I'm not changing my prediction just yet, as likely renewal still feels like an appropriate assessment for a show so early in its run. But it's moving in the right direction, and NBC's bold Thursday lineup shakeup looks a lot better now than it did just two weeks ago.
| The TV Ratings Guide | 8:00 | 8:30 | 9:00 | 9:30 | 10:00 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Mon | The Voice | Line of Fire | ||||
| Tues | NBA on NBC | |||||
| Wed | Chicago Med | Chicago Fire | Chicago PD | |||
| Thurs | The Traitors: New Blood | Law & Order: SVU | Law & Order | |||
| Fri | Happy's Place | Newlyweds | Dateline NBC | |||
| Sat | College Football on NBC | |||||
| Sun | Sunday Night Football | |||||
Renewed
Certain Renew
Likely Renew
Leans Renew
Leans Cancel
Likely Cancel
Certain Cancel
Canceled
