2021-22 Season-To-Date Report (9/1-1/5): NBC and CBS Network Averages Get Shucked Midseason

 

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2021-22 Season-To-Date Report (9/1-10/18) -- Seasonal Drops Have Pushed The Voice Out of the Top 10

Scripted programming entering the top 10 was a rarity the prior season, only occasionally punctuated by a NFL-inflated Sunday evening program entering the arena.  That season was shared by sports and reality TV programming in the top 10 reaches of the chart.  That however, has changed early in this season as most sturdy reality TV franchises hang out in the top 20, and on occasion claw their way into the top 10 like Masked Singer does when a Football Inflated Simpsons or 60 Minutes entry isn't pushing it down.  The Voice, Masked Singer and even Bachelor(ette) programming enjoyed top-10 for over 15 years.

2021-22 Season-To-Date Report (9/1-10/3): Law & Order Emerges as The Strongest Franchise Among Scripted Shows

 3 seasons back, a noticeable trend emerged with scripted programming fading in power while Reality TV and Sports continued to deliver strong.  All have lost ground in the 18-49 Adult Demographic Nielsen race, but scripted shows experienced noticeably sharper drops.  Last season, 9-1-1, Grey's Anatomy, Station 19, NCIS, Law & Order: Special Victims Unit, Law & Order: Organized Crime, The Simpsons, This is Us, Chicago PD, Chicago Med and Chicago Fire all managed to break the 1.0 benchmark in season.  In 2021-22 season, only a NFL-Inflated The Simpsons broke that metric with a 1.18 rating, and the remainder of the mentions only reached to 0.87.  

2020-21 Season to Date Report (9/6/2020-6/27/2021): Republic of Sarah Is Not Solid But Welcome on CW

Happy 4th of July TVRG readers.  Today marks 245 years this country has stood since a bunch of irritated colonists declared their independence to a bunch of outdated Brits (back then; America and Great Britain since become besties in the last century or so).  America's push for independence mirrors CW's 15-year history on the air.  They knew they'd never be accepted as an equal in the elite leagues of large networks.  FOX took the same time on the air to be regarded as a regular vs the joke of the Nielsen world.  CW knew they'd never reachen even the modest of goals in becoming the 3rd place network among the Nielsen race, and they opted to forfeit at the best time.  

Their birth year marked the first of noticeable declines in ratings, a trend showing no slowing of sorts.  Instead of fighting for desperate grabs at Nielsens, CW updated the broadcast network model.  In recent years, they bulk renew the majority of their prized pieces, even handing them a renewal prior to launch.  Their devotion entices viewers to return season after season, whether viewing live or streaming.  CW was the first of the 5 English speaking networks to pay emphasis to streaming, and evidently something works as their doors remain open (having outlived parent networks WB and UPN by 3 1/2 seasons).  And they trend!  If only CBS shows could hold the same buzz.

CW also decided to break out of the "Start in late September, load a bunch of crap repeats between and wrap up mid-May" model known to television for an eternity, which is why TVRG has something to report in the dullest summer months.  Most recently, The Republic of Sarah launched to number only a hair above Friday's joke/soap Dynasty.  The show is hardly a strong player, yet holds marketability in the summer spacing of the schedule.  Its 0.09 average leaves it as a Likely Renewal as it is mediocre for CW Nielsen standards but passable and an update to the superhero mainstays.  

And of course, there's 214 showings to report below.  Some richly deserved their renewals (check out the top 50), a few are renewal jokes (Check out the show in 151st Place), some are gone too soon (See 110th Place), some leave readers asking "How the fuck did this get renewed!? (Check out 106th Place), or "Did the network plot and burn off this show?" (75th Place remains a glaring example of this).

2020-21 Season to Date Report (9/6/20-6/7/21): The Summer Class Resumes

 Class is out for the majority of the lineup, who now sport green or red labels.  However, the networks have plenty of original programming to report, and not just reality and game shows!  In an interesting concept, new animated sitcom Housebroken and sophomore Duncanville landed on Monday nights behind Hell's Kitchen: Young Guns.  The results are slightly underwhelming, but welcome as FOX appears to be taking risks of scheduling and exposure.  Despite summers in prior years stereotyped as "low rated," how can they look any different than many other shows scheduled inside the 2020-21 season?  Summer showings for Duncanville and Housebroken will likely feature less interruptions, and FOX is sampling sitcoms away from their Sunday stable.

Though ABC does not have a single original comedy on display, they made a slight modification and moved them over to Tuesdays to allow their ultra-successful gameshow block thrive on Wednesday.  CBS is still airing out late bloomer United States of Al on Thursdays surrounded by repeats, and to surprisingly sturdy numbers.  And several sturdy and marquee dramas such as Station 19, Grey's Anatomy, Law and Order: SVU and Law and Order: Organized Crime are airing their episodes into June with the same success.  Hopefully, networks take notice and begin displaying more scripted series in the summer with less interruptions.