I won't call this a VH1 dominated list this week but there are 3 shows on here. Slow news week.



1. Big Brother (Wednesday: 5.79 million 1.9; Thursday: 5.75 million 1.8; Sunday: 5.95 million 1.9)- Sure these numbers may be down some from last season but they are still good. The broadcast networks have been getting skewered with their scripted shows this summer while the reality shows (particularly the veterans) have held up. This show may not be keeping summer afloat on CBS but the show does take up 3 days and the numbers aren’t awful and that counts for something.

2. Love & Hip Hop Atlanta (2.946 million 1.5)- There are roughly 5-6 more episodes left this season (including the reunion because there will definitely be more than one part). It is getting harder for me to see this show making up that approximately 700k deficit just to pull the season average to where it was for the first 3 seasons. It is the highest rated show of the year so far but it may not stay there because Love & Hip Hop Hollywood can challenge it. These numbers aren’t so far ahead of everything else that it makes that scenario impossible.

3. Duck Dynasty (2.166 million 0.9)- You might be surprised by this but this is still the top show on A&E. Seems like it’s hard to believe because of how far it has fallen but it’s true. Their top scripted show (Bates Motel) pulls lower numbers than this and while they have a large reality slate, none of those shows come close to this one. I mentioned this a season or 2 ago but this show is only coming off the air when all parties decide to end it. It’s in its 8th season so it’s not going to get unceremoniously cancelled (not after what the show has been through). It will get a proper final season.

4. Masterchef (4.44 million 1.5)- This is only here because FOX renewed the show last week. The show has done well enough to get renewed and the renewal was only for one season so it seems like this will remain a summer show and it won’t be called upon to pull extra shifts during the regular season.

5. Dating Naked: Playing for Keeps (Premiere: 484,000 0.2, Episode 2: 474,000 0.2)- So these numbers are higher than last season’s finale but lower than every other episode that aired last season. That still puts this show (and Twinning) in the odd and awkward position of having better ratings than all other Wednesday shows so far this year and that may not be an awful position to be in considering that VH1 has already renewed 2 of those lower rated shows. What I’m saying is that if these numbers don’t tank, then VH1 may be forced to renew this show because their low standards may force their hand.

6. Scream: The TV Series (802,000 0.3)- This show really hasn’t improved over the last couple of weeks. It’s definitely why MTV hasn’t issued an official renewal (the Comic-Con announcement from the producers was highly premature and MTV never confirmed it themselves). These ratings are pretty low and the numbers for the younger demos are better but not 100% promising. This show is definitely in some danger and every week that passes without improvement is another week of lost time.

7. Teen Wolf (1.137 million 0.4)- So it looks like this show too has finally begun to succumb to the MTV slump. It is not in any danger of course since the show was renewed a couple weeks ago but these numbers are not where they have been in previous seasons. Something is definitely going on with the network when you have a slump that Is this long and this widespread.

8. Extant (4.34 million 0.7)- if you can remember last season then you would remember that the show started airing at 9pm behind Big Brother. Ratings were ok at first but they started sliding fast and then CBS decided to swap it to 10pm and have it air behind reruns. This season CBS stuck to the plan and had the show air at 10pm up until last week when they moved it back to 9pm. As you can see, the ratings haven’t changed much. CBS may be in a dilemma of airing a show that they don’t really want. If Amazon comes to them yet again with another offer they cannot refuse with this show then it will be interesting to see if they are tempted to take the offer.

9. Twinning (385,000 0.2)- This time last year, these numbers would mean the show was not quite DOA but close. I wish I could estimate where the cancellation line is for these Wednesday shows but I can’t do that when VH1 already renewed their lowest rated show so far this year. Some Wednesday shows are going to get canceled but it may be hard to pick out which ones. Right now I'm guessing the Wednesday cancel line rests on the fate of Swab Stories. That show ended its season with an average of 428,000 viewers. If that show gets renewed then this show has a shot if the ratings go up a little. If that show gets canceled then this show is probably doomed too.

10. Masters of Sex (509,000 0.2)- This is up in the demo a little bit over the past couple of weeks. Now the numbers still aren’t good and a little more improvement will need to be made just to get to last season’s levels. Luckily, the show won’t need to improve all that much (maybe 100k more viewers and definitely at least 0.1 more demo point). There are enough episodes left in the season to make that happen.