During the regular part of the 2022-23 television season, FOX launched just four new scripted TV series and cancelled one of them. Since selling its studio to Disney, FOX has been working to produce some of its own shows rather than having to license all of its series from outside studios. Profit margins are tighter than ever and last season, the network said goodbye to shows that would have been renewed if they’d been produced by FOX. Which shows will survive the 2023-24 season? Stay tuned.
How do the execs decide what to cancel or keep? They look at a lot of economic factors, but the ratings still play a large role. The higher the ratings, the better the chances a show has of surviving. These 2023-24 season charts will be updated daily, as new ratings data becomes available.
FOX shows this season (so far): Alert: Missing Persons Unit, America’s Most Wanted, Bob’s Burgers, The Cleaning Lady, Family Guy, Farmer Wants a Wife, The Floor, Gordon Ramsay’s Food Stars, The Great North, Grimsburg, Hell’s Kitchen, Kitchen Nightmares, Krapopolis, LEGO Masters, The Masked Singer, MasterChef Junior, Name That Tune, Next Level Chef, The Simpsons, Snake Oil, So You Think You Can Dance, Special Forces: World’s Toughest Test, TMZ Investigates, and We Are Family.
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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? Which 2023-24 shows are you rooting for? Which one isn’t as successful as you thought it would be? Are you hoping any TV series will get cancelled to make room for something else?