The 2017-18 television season is in the books, and as usual, some shows performed better than others. Like, better than all of these.
Broadcast’s lowest-rated entertainment series this time around was CBS Saturday show “Ransom,” which our readers have probably never heard of. ABC’s reality competition “The Toy Box” was just one-tenth of a ratings point behind that one among adults 18-49, which is the demographic most-beloved by advertisers.
See how the 12 lowest-rated broadcast TV shows rank by their ratings below. For purposes of this story, we elected not to count shows on The CW, which would have gobbled up a bunch of spots. See the full rankings below.
Rank: 11 (tie)
Show: “Running Wild With Bear Grylls”
Net: NBC
18-49 Rating: 0.8
Reality series didn’t run wild on any of its primetime competition.
Rank: 11 (tie)
Show: “Elementary”
Net: CBS
18-49 Rating: 0.8
It doesn’t take a genius to see that these demo ratings are pretty terrible.
Rank: 6 (tie)
Show: “Champions”
Net: NBC
18-49 Rating: 0.7
Losers.
Rank: 6 (tie)
Show: “Genius Junior”
Net: NBC
18-49 Rating: 0.7
Reference our “Elementary” joke from a few slides earlier.
Rank: 6 (tie)
Show: “Taken”
Net: NBC
18-49 Rating: 0.7
This since-canceled TV adaptation lacked a very particular set of skills.
Rank: 6 (tie)
Show: “Quantico”
Net: ABC
18-49 Rating: 0.7
More like “Quantic-No,” are we right?
Rank: 6 (tie)
Show: “Showtime at the Apollo”
Net: Fox
18-49 Rating: 0.7
Someone call the Sandman.
Rank: 3 (tie)
Show: “Undercover Boss”
Net: CBS
18-49 Rating: 0.6
DEEP undercover.
Rank: 3 (tie)
Show: “Ten Days in the Valley”
Net: ABC
18-49 Rating: 0.6
One season in Hell.
Rank: 3 (tie)
Show: “The Exorcist”
Net: Fox
18-49 Rating: 0.6
Fox finally exorcised this Friday show after a pair of low-rated runs.
Rank: 2
Show: “Toy Box”
Net: ABC
18-49 Rating: 0.5
May not be appropriate for ages 18-49. Return to toy store.
Rank: 1
Show: “Ransom” (Saturday)
Net: CBS
18-49 Rating: 0.4
Sitting down? “Ransom” was actually renewed for another season — that’s because the thriller costs CBS next to nothing, as its international partners pick up much of the production costs.
Luckily for you, “Once Upon a Time,” “Child Support,” “Living Biblically” and “Great News,” we cut this off before your lame 0.8 rating came up. Oh, sorry — it just did.
