I'm back with another monthly look at the cable TV
landscape! As always, I'll note that I mostly traffic in
adults 18-49 ratings below. (That's always what I mean by
"demo.") However, these should be taken with some grain of
salt. I use A18-49 ratings because of availability and
because they're a reasonable way of making comparisons
across networks, but be advised that it is not
necessarily the be-all-end-all number it is on broadcast networks. Not
all of these networks target that demographic
specifically.
All
numbers are up to date through Thursday, August 1. Since I
haven't done one of these in a couple months, and there are a ton of
shows in the summer, I'm trying a quicker format this time with all the
numbers at the beginning for each show. In the parenthesses I'll put the
18-49 average, then the +/- number is how it compares to last year's
ratings, then the number of episodes counted (if the season isn't
complete yet).
Switched at Birth (0.75, +6%, 8 episodes)
The Fosters (0.64, 9 episodes): After a decent start, ABC Family newbie The Fosters has gotten much stronger in the last month or so, pulling several 0.7's and even getting as high as a 0.77 on July 22. It's averaging about a tick ahead of what Bunheads did in this slot last summer, so ABC Family cancelled Bunheads and threw its support behind this one.
Pretty Little Liars (1.10, +10%, 8 episodes): While the ratings have jumped around quite a bit for PLL, with several 1.3's and a few 0.9's and 1.0's, the end result is another very positive run for ABC Family's top drama.
Twisted (0.53, 9 episodes): Newbie Twisted is definitely weaker than The Fosters, at least in 18-49, but it has still scored a back-order.
The Vineyard (0.31, 2 episodes)
Melissa & Joey (0.44, -25%, 10 episodes): The ABC Family Wednesday comedies Melissa & Joey and Baby Daddy were arguably the network's best story last summer and probably its worst this summer. Both shows have taken major dives from last year. In Melissa's case, though, the renewal for next season is already secure.
Baby Daddy (0.40, -35%, 10 episodes)
A&E
The Glades (0.58, -20%, 9 episodes)
Longmire (0.72, -4%, 9 episodes): Of A&E's two Monday dramas, Longmire has held up the best by far. These shows had nearly identical ratings last season, but now Longmire is the stronger show by at least a tick every week.
AMC
Mad Men (0.87, -2%)
The Killing (0.45, -6%, 10 episodes): Though much of the critical acclaim has come back for The Killing, the viewers haven't; it's down a bit from the numbers that initially got it cancelled a year ago.
BET
The Game (1.11, -28%, 15 episodes): The Game has taken an upswing in its summer run, beginning with a 1.7 on July 2 and settling at around a 1.2. It's actually doing a little better now than in the second half of its 2012 season.
Being Mary Jane (2.0, pilot preview on July 2): BET previewed its Gabrielle Union drama pilot after The Game to fantastic results. It returns in January 2014.
Comedy Central
Futurama (0.66, 8 episodes, +1%)
FX
The Bridge (0.67, 4 episodes): After starting at a 0.91, The Bridge had a massive week two meltdown, all the way to a 0.52. It's since rebounded a little bit, hitting 0.67 and 0.59 in the last two weeks, but this is still a fairly mediocre performer so far.
Anger Management (0.42 in June/July)
Wilfred (0.30, -53%, 8 episodes): The biggest year-to-year decliner this summer is FX's Thursday sitcom. As with most shows down this much, it's caught some bad breaks; its one-hour premiere went up against Game 7 of the NBA Finals and it's leading out of a much weaker Anger Management than a year ago. Still, 0.30 is a pretty dire average.
Game of Thrones (2.62, +36%): Game of Thrones ended a sensational third season with a new series high 2.89 for its June 2 finale.
Veep (0.62, +17%): While Veep is not an impressive ratings performer, it did follow its GoT lead-in upward in season two, and all the other things helped garner it a third season renewal.
True Blood (2.35, -11%, 7 episodes): After a few years with very consistent upper 2's ratings, True Blood has taken its first noticeable downturn in season five. But it's still doing extremely well. Only previous timeslot occupant Game of Thrones has a higher average among scripted cable shows on this guide.
The Newsroom (0.85, -3%, 3 episodes): Aaron Sorkin's sophomore drama has been just about steady in season two, and the TCA buzz suggested season three is basically a lock.
Army Wives (0.78, -21%)
The Client List (0.79, -15%)
Drop Dead Diva (0.67, -8%, 6 episodes)
Devious Maids (0.84, 6 episodes): The busted ABC pilot from the creator of Desperate Housewives initially looked like a disappointment at its cable home, opening at just a 0.65 demo rating. But since then it's become one of the big stories of the summer, hitting series highs in three of the last four weeks. It's now Lifetime's highest-rated scripted series and appears to be trending even farther up.
MTV
Awkward (0.63, -22%)
Teen Wolf (0.81, +22%): Teen Wolf hit its first ever 1.0 in its June 3 premiere, held that 1.0 in week two, and has since settled at a still very good 0.7 to 0.8 level.
Showtime
Dexter (1.18, 5 episodes, +4%): After a somewhat disappointing 1.2 start (a rare Dexter premiere not to hit a series high), the last season of Dexter held onto that premiere audience much better than most Dexter seasons, and now it's on the year-to-year upside.
Ray Donovan (0.54, 5 episodes): The latest Dexter lead-out has done a little better than season one of Homeland but considerably worse than season two of Homeland. It's renewed, and it'll hope for a Homeland-esque bounce next season.
Warehouse 13 (0.43, -20%)
Friday Night Smackdown! (0.66 in June/July, -24%)
Merlin (0.38, -23%)
Continuum (0.37, +22%, 8 episodes): Season two of Continuum moved to Friday after Smackdown and has done considerably better than when it was in the Monday lead-off slot, though not really any better than previous occupants like Merlin. It's coming back to Syfy for season three.
TBS
Sullivan & Son (0.80, -9%, 7 episodes): The TBS sitcom has held up decently in season two. It's now actually slightly outrating the initially much more hyped Men at Work.
King & Maxwell (0.49, 8 episodes): Like most of TNT's Monday crime dramas, King & Maxwell has delivered a very old audience, and its demo rating has been pretty bad compared to its Major Crimes lead-in. We'll see if this is enough, but it's probably the first of TNT's current sked that I'd cancel.
Rizzoli & Isles (1.12, +3%, 6 episodes)
Perception (0.72, -9%, 6 episodes): Despite a solid lead-in upgrade in season two, Perception is down a notch in 18-49 this summer. It's also doing a little worse than Franklin & Bash when it had this lead-in last year (0.78). Once again... we'll see.
Franklin & Bash (0.60, -24%, 8 episodes): Meanwhile, Franklin & Bash's downgrade was somewhat inevitable since it lost the Rizzoli lead-in. It's yet another "we'll see," but I think I'd put it a bit ahead of King and Perception since 1) it has the worst slot and 2) its two best results of the season came in the last two weeks.
Falling Skies (1.19, -7%, 9 episodes)
TV Land
Hot in Cleveland (0.35, +1%, 6 episodes): TV Land's signature sitcom is still living off a big bounce from its live episode on June 19 (0.52), which had the show's highest rating in over two years.
The Exes (0.31, +10%, 6 episodes)
Covert Affairs (0.71, -23%, 3 episodes): After a terrible 0.62 start on July 16, Covert has rallied somewhat in its last couple weeks, but it's still going to be down big for a third straight summer.
Suits (0.99, -18%, 3 episodes): The opposite of its Covert Affairs lead-in, Suits has fallen off after a solid start. The 1.1 premiere was even year-to-year, but it's downticked in each of the last two weeks.
Psych (0.83, -7%)
Royal Pains (0.81, -23%, 7 episodes)
Necessary Roughness (0.65, -15%, 7 episodes)
Burn Notice (1.00, -19%, 8 episodes)
Graceland (0.75, 7 episodes): USA's lone new show this summer hasn't exactly been a breakout, starting with an underwhelming 0.79 on June 6, but it's held that rating pretty well in the subsequent weeks. It's in the same general area as most of their dramas, so I'd guess it gets another season.
For more in-depth TV ratings coverage every day, check out my blog at SpottedRatings.com or follow me on Twitter: @spotupj.
