Here are NBC’s renew/cancel standings for week 29 of the 2017-18 season.
| Show | Status | 18-49 rating | Renew/Cancel Index |
| Taken (F) (O) | 🐻 🐻 | 0.44 | -0.07 |
| The Brave | 🐻 🐻 | 0.91 | 0.21 |
| Great News (O) | 🐻 🐻 | 0.73 | 0.03 |
| Champions (O) | 🐻 🐻 | 0.56 | -0.14 |
| Timeless | 🐻 🐻 | 0.64 | -0.06 |
| AP Bio (O) | 🐻 🐻 🐻 | 0.78 | 0.08 |
| The Blacklist | 🐻 🐻 🐻 🐻 | 0.94 | 0.24 |
| Law & Order True Crime (O) | 🐻 🐻 | 1.04 | 0.34 |
| Rise (O) | 🐻 🐻 🐻 | 0.94 | 0.24 |
| Blindspot (F) | 🐻 🐻 🐻 🐻 | 0.66 | 0.24 |
| Chicago PD (O) | 🐻 🐻 🐻 🐻 🐻 | 1.21 | 0.51 |
| Superstore (O) | Renewed | 1.05 | 0.35 |
| Law & Order: SVU (O) | 🐻 🐻 🐻 🐻 | 1.27 | 0.57 |
| Good Girls (O) | 🐻 🐻 🐻 🐻 | 1.09 | 0.39 |
| The Good Place (O) | Renewed | 1.11 | 0.41 |
| Chicago Fire (O) | 🐻 🐻 🐻 🐻 | 1.09 | 0.39 |
| Chicago Med (O) | 🐻 🐻 🐻 🐻 🐻 | 1.27 | 0.57 |
| Will & Grace (O) | Renewed | 1.49 | 0.79 |
| This Is Us | Renewed | 3.07 | 2.37 |
Four weeks from now, the broadcast networks will be announcing their schedules for next season. This week the Bear examines the bubble picture for each of the Big 4 networks.
For our purposes here, “on the bubble” means any show whose status is thus far undetermined and not a sure bet to be either canceled or renewed.
The Bubble-est: “Rise.” What was in theory a nice tonal fit for the “This Is Us” audience hasn’t worked out that well in practice. No one was expecting it to hit “TIU’s” ratings, but NBC had to be hoping for more than what “Rise” is getting so far.
Safe to safe-ish (most to least likely to be renewed): “Law & Order: SVU,” “Chicago Fire,” “Blindspot,” “The Blacklist,” “Good Girls”
Not safe (most to least likely to be canceled): “Champions,” “Taken,” “The Brave,” “Law & Order True Crime,” “Timeless,” “Great News,” “AP Bio”
Key:
| DSW | Dead Show Walking: All but officially canceled yet still airing | ||||
| 🐻 | sure bet to be canceled by May 2018 | ||||
| 🐻 🐻 | likely to be canceled by May 2018 | ||||
| 🐻 🐻 🐻 | tossup between renewal and cancellation by May 2018 | ||||
| 🐻 🐻 🐻 🐻 | likely to be renewed by May 2018 | ||||
| 🐻 🐻 🐻 🐻 🐻 | sure bet to be renewed by May 2018 | ||||
The Renew/Cancel Index is the amount above (or below) a replacement-level rating — i.e., the expected adults 18-49 rating of an emergency fill-in show should a series be canceled. For the 2016-17 season, replacement level is a 0.7 same-day rating in adults 18-49 for the Big 4 networks and a 0.2 for The CW. (Read more here.) The index number is taken by subtracting 0.7 (or 0.2) from a show’s average same-day rating.
Friday scripted shows (denoted with an “F” above) on the Big 4 have average ratings about 30 percent lower than those of other nights, therefore their ratings are multiplied by 1.43 before subtracting the replacement-level number.
Shows that have ended their seasons have their R/C Index number frozen at the point of their final episode.
(O) – Owned: All other things equal, shows owned by studios affiliated with their networks have a better shot at renewal than those from outside producers.
