Last season, in preparation for being sold, The CW cancelled half of its scripted shows and announced that two others would be ending during the 2022-23 season. Nexstar, the network’s new owner, has indicated that The CW will be airing shows with smaller production budgets and/or acquired or syndicated series. This time around, The CW programs will depend on ratings and ad revenue more than ever before. How many shows will be cancelled or renewed during the 2022-23 season? Stay tuned.
There’s lots of data that network execs look at when deciding whether to renew or cancel a TV series but ratings are the major ingredient. These 2022-23 charts will be updated daily, as new ratings data becomes available.
CW shows this season (so far): All American, All American: Homecoming, Coroner, Criss Angel’s Magic with the Stars, DC’s Stargirl, Family Law, Kung Fu, Professionals, Walker, Walker: Independence, The Winchesters, and World’s Funniest Animals.
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Some notes about these charts:
These figures are updated automatically as new ratings are released. The averages are based on the final national numbers (live plus same-day viewing), unless marked with an asterisk (*). For technical reasons, I have to resort them manually. While these numbers don’t include further delayed or streaming viewing, they are a very good indicator of how a show is performing, especially when compared to others on the same channel. There can be other economic factors involved in a show’s fate, but typically the higher-rated series are renewed and the lower-rated ones are cancelled.
Keep in mind that the demo numbers are typically what’s most important to advertisers. Therefore, that’s how the networks measure success. Advertisers pay more for ad time on a show that has a higher demo rating. Older viewers also matter but younger viewers watch less traditional TV and are therefore harder to reach. Delayed viewing matters more and more these days (if commercials are watched) but live viewing is still advertisers’ ideal.
Demo numbers are typically reported using the 10ths decimal place (2.4, for example). In the averages, I’m using an extra decimal for easier ranking. The networks take into account when shows air on Fridays and Saturdays, nights when TV viewership is lower.
What do you think? Are you surprised by any of the ratings? Which 2022-23 shows should be doing better? Which one do you think will be cancelled next?
