ABC 2019-20 Renew/Cancel Wrap-Up: A Look at the Hits and Misses

ABC has finally decided the fates of all of their in-season scripted programs, with the last of their decisions being handed down on June 15. It's time for me to take a look at what I got right, what I got wrong, and look back at the ABC season that was. Below is my full chart of predictions for the season, with every show placed exactly where I last left them before their fates were decided.

ABC Renew/Cancel (Almost) Wrap-Up: Most Shows Decided, but What About The Baker and the Beauty and For Life?

Just two ABC shows are left standing today after ABC delivered news to most of their shows. Read on to see how this impacts The Baker and the Beauty and For Life, plus a wrap-up of my season of predictions as a whole.

Single Parents Canceled after Two Seasons

Sophomore comedy series Single Parents won't be back for a third season on ABC. The network canceled the comedy today, due to mediocre ratings and modest retention from its long-time lead-in Modern Family. The 0.6 average for season two was a 29% decline, tying for the fourth-worst decline of any ABC show in the 2019-20 season. Elizabeth Meriwether created the series (alongside JJ Philbin). Though Meriwether is an important creative partner for ABC (she also created Bless This Mess), that relationship wasn't enough to secure a third season for the show. Taran Killam, Kimrie Lewis, Leighton Meester, Brad Garrett and Jake Choi starred in the series, which ran for 45 episodes over two seasons. This was a correct prediction for The TV Ratings Guide.

Wednesday TV Ratings 5/13/20: Survivor and Most ABC Finales Rise, The Masked Singer Steady (UPDATED)

Preliminary Analysis: It was a big night for finales on broadcast TV. Most notable for the night (at least in the eyes of the viewers) was the finale of Survivor. The reality staple hit megahit numbers for the final episode of its historic all-winners season. Viewers were clearly pleased with the season's theme, as the season as a whole rated higher than last spring's season and was miles ahead of the fall season. The three-hour finale ran two tenths ahead of last week's two-hour episode with a 1.6. 

ABC's much-promoted "prom night," which featured finales for all four Wednesday comedies, saw ratings increases for four shows. The Goldbergs, at 0.8, was the only ABC comedy steady. The remaining comedies all dipped a tenth from the preceding one. Schooled had some of its best retention from Goldbergs this season, up a tenth to 0.7. American Housewife gained a tenth with 0.6 for its finale. Single Parents gained a tenth from its series low 0.4, tying the rating it most commonly received in this half of the season, 0.5. Shark Tank ended a two-week Wednesday stint at 0.5, below its Friday airings, again proving it's best airing it on Fridays and best not airing it in a 10 PM slot.

The Masked Singer was steady at 1.8, making it again the #1 show of the night despite a smaller gap than usual. Its aftershow, After The Mask, chugged along with mediocre retention, down a tenth for its finale with a 0.8. This is worse than anything LEGO Masters did behind Masked Singer, but better than anything Almost Family or The Moodys did this fall. NBC had Chicago repeats at 0.5, higher than the network's regular ratings for its Sunday and Thursday blocks this spring. Nobody cared about what The CW had to offer, with 0.1s for both encores.

Finals Update: 'After the Mask' (-0.1) adjusted down.

Time	Show	18-49 Rating/Share	Viewers (mil)	Channel
8 PM	The Masked Singer	1.8/11	7.24	Fox
	Survivor (F)	1.6/9	7.94	CBS
	The Goldbergs (F)	0.8/5	4.13	ABC
	Chicago Med (R)	0.5/3	3.82	NBC
	Penn & Teller: Fool Us (R)	0.1/1	0.71	The CW
8:30 PM	Schooled (Series Finale)	0.7/4	3.21	ABC
9 PM	After the Mask (F)	0.8/4	3.58	Fox
	American Housewife (F)	0.6/4	3.05	ABC
	Chicago Fire (R)	0.5/3	4.18	NBC
	Bulletproof (R)	0.1/0	0.32	The CW
9:30 PM	Single Parents (Series Finale)	0.5/3	2.26	ABC
10 PM	Chicago PD (R)	0.5/3	3.99	NBC
	Shark Tank	0.5/3	2.27	ABC

Key:

(R) = repeat

(F) = finale

Wednesday TV Ratings 5/6/20: Double Single Parents Hits New Low and Drags American Housewife Down, SEAL Team Ends Down Behind Two-Hour Survivor (UPDATED)

As the TV season continues to wind down, Fox 's 'The Masked Singer' (1.8) saw a two-tenth decline, matching its winter 2020 low-point. The good news was that it remained a few notches above its fall 2019 low (1.6). The 9pm aftershow (0.9) also lost two ticks, retaining just half of its incredibly compatible lead-in. Elsewhere, 'Survivor' (1.4) and 'SEAL Team' (0.6) were down a tenth and two-tenths respectively on CBS.

ABC preempted 'Schooled' for one night and got very similar results from an 8:30 edition of 'Single Parents' (0.6). 'Parents' was up a tenth from its 9:30 episode while 'The Goldbergs' (0.8) held steady. Unfortunately for 'Single Parents', it completely crashed to a new series low (0.4) in its normal 9:30 slot, losing a tenth from a down 'American Housewife' (0.5). The alphabet network capped the night off with a special Wednesday edition of 'Shark Tank' (0.5). It crumbled with the little lead-in help and fell well below its usual Friday delivery.

NBC chugged along with another set of 'Chicago' repeats (0.6/0.6/0.5). 'Riverdale' (0.2) was steady on the CW for its finale, leading into an encore of 'Bulletproof' (0.1).


Finals Update: The 8:30pm 'Single Parents' (0.6, +0.1) adjusted up while the 'Chicago PD' repeat (0.5, -0.1) adjusted down.

Time	Show	18-49 Rating/Share	Viewers (mil)	Channel
8 PM	The Masked Singer	1.8/10	7.28	Fox
	Survivor	1.4/8	7.58	CBS
	The Goldbergs	0.8/5	4.32	ABC
	Chicago Med (R)	0.6/4	4.43	NBC
	Riverdale (F)	0.2/1	0.65	The CW
8:30 PM	Single Parents	0.6/3	2.79	ABC
9 PM	After the Mask	0.9/5	3.79	Fox
	Chicago Fire (R)	0.6/3	4.54	NBC
	American Housewife	0.5/3	2.80	ABC
	Bulletproof (R)	0.1/0	0.30	The CW
9:30 PM	Single Parents	0.4/2	2.22	ABC
10 PM	SEAL Team (F)	0.6/3	4.54	CBS
	Chicago PD (R)	0.5/3	4.23	NBC
	Shark Tank	0.5/3	2.39	ABC