It’s that time of the year again.
For the uninitiated, Sweeps is one of the most critical periods in the Broadcast television calendar. So important in fact that it occurs four times a year (February, May, July, and November) as Nielsen monitors viewer habits and sets advertising rates for the coming months.
Because these ratings directly dictate how much a network can charge for commercials, the May Sweeps window (the most famous of all the Sweeps siblings) is a high-stakes “grand finale” for the traditional TV season. If you’ve ever wondered why your show goes over the top with jaw-dropping and expensive storylines at certain times of the year, the answer is May Sweeps. Earthquakes, sudden deaths, weddings, floods, landslides, alien abductuion? May Sweeps. At this time of the year the Networks pull out all the stops, airing high-octane finales, pulling out major guest stars, and writing shocking plot twists that all serve to inflate their numbers just before the Upfronts.
Wait. Upfronts? What are those again? Upfronts are big shiny annual events where the Networks pitch their new shows to advertisers for the upcoming season. Of course the odd entertainment journalist is allowed into the press room for a gander at all the new entries too.
Consequently, late March and April often become a bloodbath for shows on the bubble. Here at TV Pulse Magazine, we refer to it as Bloodbath Week, as Networks often slaughter their underperforming shows (along with some shows you never imagined were on the bubble in the first place) over the course of a week at this time of the year. This typically happens just before it’s that Network’s time to wow the advertisers at their own Upfronts presentation. It’s also the time of the year for Save our Show campaigns, and for disgruntled fans vowing never to watch that particular Network again.
It may be cruel and it may appear to come out of left field but the process is a natural part of the yearly cycle of TV. To clear room for new pilots and ensure their lineup looks as strong as possible for investors, networks always axe underperforming series right before the Sweeps period begins.
We saw this play out recently at CBS, which cleared its 2026–27 slate by officially canceling the Sherlock Holmes-inspired medical drama Watson after two seasons and the freshman workplace comedy DMV after just one. Despite some early multi-platform success, both shows suffered from declining ratings, making them the latest casualties of the industry’s spring cleaning/reaper axe.
CBS’ streaming platform, Paramount+, likewise canceled earnest sci-fi romp Starfleet Academy, dubbed ‘Harry Potter in Space’ by some critics (Me. I am that critic.) last week. The series, which had already been renewed for a second season, and was already in post-production, will air its final episodes early 2027.
If you’d like an inkling about which shows any given Network might choose to cancel this year you should know there is little competition between shows on other Networks. That means your show doesn’t have to outperform a rival show on the other channel. The competition comes from shows on the same Network, with Nets usually choosing to axe the bottom two stragglers on the ratings list.
Have a look at CBS comedy slate:
| Series | Total Viewers (Avg) | 18–49 Demo | Status |
| Georgie & Mandy… | 7.2M | 0.55 | Renewed |
| Ghosts | 6.9M | 0.52 | Renewed |
| The Neighborhood | 3.9M | 0.38 | Ending |
| DMV | 2.9M | 0.24 | Canceled |
Now take a look at CBS’ Drama slate:
| Series | Total Viewers (Avg) | 18–49 Demo | Status |
| Tracker | 13.0M | 0.88 | Renewed |
| Marshals | 9.5M | 0.72 | Renewed |
| Boston Blue | 8.8M | 0.47 | Renewed |
| Matlock | 7.9M | 0.45 | Renewed |
| Sheriff Country | 7.7M | 0.40 | Renewed |
| NCIS | 6.2M | 0.35 | Renewed |
| Elsbeth | 5.8M | 0.32 | Renewed |
| Fire Country | 5.2M | 0.30 | Renewed |
| FBI | 5.1M | 0.30 | Renewed |
| CIA | 3.6M | 0.28 | Renewed |
| NCIS: Origins | 3.4M | 0.25 | Renewed |
| Watson | 3.1M | 0.22 | Canceled |
| NCIS: Sydney | 2.6M | 0.16 | Renewed |
The answer to the question why wasn’t NCIS: Sydney canceled instead of Watson is NCIS: Sydney is a joint production between CBS Studios and Paramount Australia who shares the cost of production, making it cheaper to keep on the air.
Here are ABC’s current drama ratings:
| Series | Total Viewers (Avg) | 18–49 Demo | Status |
| High Potential | 13.2M | 2.31 | Renewed |
| Will Trent | 9.6M | 1.12 | Renewed |
| The Rookie | 9.2M | 1.97 | Renewed |
| 9-1-1 | 7.4M | 1.28 | Renewed |
| 9-1-1: Nashville | 6.8M | 1.05 | Renewed |
| Grey’s Anatomy | 3.5M | 1.23 | Renewed |
| RJ Decker | 3.1M | 0.45 | TBD |
| Doctor Odyssey | 2.8M | 0.38 | Canceled |
Here are NBC’s:
| Series | Total Viewers (Avg) | 18–49 Demo | Status |
| Chicago Med | 5.6M | 0.34 | Renewed |
| Chicago Fire | 5.2M | 0.32 | Renewed |
| Chicago P.D. | 4.9M | 0.29 | Renewed |
| L&O: SVU | 3.7M | 0.30 | Likely Renewal |
| Law & Order | 3.7M | 0.24 | Likely Renewal |
| The Hunting Party | 2.1M | 0.16 | On the Bubble |
| Brilliant Minds | 1.8M | 0.14 | Likely Canceled |
And here are FOX’s:
| Series | Total Viewers (Avg) | 18–49 Demo | Status |
| Memory of a Killer | 11.2M | 0.85 | Renewed |
| Best Medicine | 11.0M | 0.82 | Renewed |
| Doc | 7.4M | 0.48 | Renewed |
| Murder in a Small Town | 2.2M | 0.18 | On the Bubble |
(All ratings relevant up to March 2026.)
CBS is set to announce its 2026-2027 slate in Los Angeles on April 15, 2026.
FOX and NBC will announce theirs in New York City on May 11, followed by ABC on May 12.
But it’s not all bad news. April and May are also the time of the year that Networks announce renewals, as was the case last week for CBS’ newbie dramas CIA, starring Tom Ellis and Nick Gehlfuss, and Marshalls, a spin-off to the wildly successful Yellowstone franchise. In fact, Marshalls landed one of the quickest renewals in recent memory, scoring a season 2 order after airing just two episodes. Both shows join 10 previously announced shows for the 2026-2027 slate.
The next weeks are critical for the renewal or cancelation status of the Broadcast slate. Stick with us as it happens.
