This week on the Summer Renew/Cancel, we take a further look at a few shows that have flown under the radar so far this season, including Fox's summer staple, Beat Shazam.
Certain to be Canceled:
N/A
Likely to be Canceled:
Lingo (0.19, 0.18-0.20)
Leans Cancellation:
Gordon Ramsay's Food Stars (0.18, 0.14-0.19)
I Can See Your Voice (0.21, 0.17-0.31)
Leans Renewal:
Beat Shazam (0.23, 0.19-0.27)
Don't Forget The Lyrics! (0.22, 0.18-0.26)
Likely to be Renewed:
The 1% Club (0.23, 0.22-0.25)
Password (0.26, 0.22-0.29)
The Quiz with Balls (0.26, 0.23-0.29)
Weakest Link (0.24, 0.17-0.30)
Certain to be Renewed:
America's Got Talent (0.47, 0.45-0.51)
American Ninja Warrior (0.33, 0.30-0.36)
MasterChef (Renewed)
Coming Soon:
The Bachelorette
Big Brother
Celebrity Family Feud
Claim to Fame
Judge Steve Harvey
Lucky 13
Press Your Luck
The Real CSI: Miami
Secret Celebrity Renovation
The Wall
Who Wants to Be a Millionaire
Beat Shazam: Last season on Fox, the network saw unprecedented declines, renewing several shows with 0.1 averages that declined over 50% from the previous season, including Tuesday dramas The Cleaning Lady and Alert. Why am I taking time in a summer renew/cancel to drag the performance of a network's in-season programming? Well, aside from it simply being fun to dunk on them, it also helps to illustrate why Beat Shazam looks so impressive this season despite a season average that most would agree is pretty mediocre. The musical guessing game show is up 10% from last season, the only show on the network to rise this year. Part of that can likely be attributed to the return of its popular host, Jamie Foxx, who took last season off after a well-documented health scare. However, with how Fox has cratered as of late, a year-to-year increase is still a very welcome surprise. 0.23 is, as I said, a pretty mediocre rating in itself, but that still keeps it towards the middle of the 2023-24 Fox programming pack, and isn't much lower than NBC's Password and Weakest Link. A performance like this should be more than enough for a summer show to earn a renewal. The only hangup I have is that Jamie Foxx has a relatively large salary for the host of an otherwise-cheap summer filler program, with a $3 million per season payday for its first season. Considering that we're now in season seven, he's likely being paid even more than that. This isn't a huge expense, but Fox is clearly in the business of making shows for as little as possible, considering that they've renewed their cheaper dramas while their #1 drama, 9-1-1: Lone Star, is practically DOA when it returns from its year-long hiatus this fall. If Fox figures they can get similar ratings for much cheaper, they may move on from Beat Shazam, in spite of its impressive resilience this season. I don't expect that to happen, but it's not impossible, and I do think it's the least safe of the network's summer shows for which I'm predicting renewal. It LEANS RENEWAL.
American Ninja Warrior: One show that has gone without any discussion so far is this longtime NBC staple. While it was once a big summer hit that drew league average ratings, it's now a bit past its heyday, and has settled at around 80% of the league average. For a summer show, that's still quite solid, especially since, back when it first premiered on NBC back in 2012, it was also averaging 80% of the league average. For the most part, this has been a very steady and very reliable show for NBC, and this season is no different. Some of those one-off ANW specials may not rate all that well for them, but the regular show is still a great asset that has kept NBC competitive on summer Monday nights for over ten years. It's a CERTAIN RENEWAL.
What do you think of my predictions? What are your predictions? Let me know in the comments and vote in the poll of the week!
