ABC Renewal Ratings: Which On-the-Bubble Shows Are the Safest?

As upfront season approaches, it’s that time of year when networks take a hard look at their current slate and see what shows might be on the chopping block. Depending on what’s cooking for the upcoming season, the cuts could be painful; just take a look at NBC’s bloodbath last year as it welcomed back the NBA.

That doesn’t seem to be the case for ABC, however, having ample spots in its 2026-27 broadcast season and only two pilots in consideration. The network began filling out its lineup with renewals for “Abbott Elementary,” “High Potential,” “9-1-1” and “9-1-1: Nashville,” which hold down varying spots on the ratings hierarchy.

The decisions, which started later than usual, leave several shows on the bubble, including “Will Trent,” “The Rookie,” “Grey’s Anatomy,” “Shifting Gears” and new series “RJ Decker” and “Scrubs,” though it’s expected that most all the series could make it to next year with the potential of trimmed budgets for some (more on that below).

Whereas NBC’s pilot revival puts the fate of some of its long-running shows into question, ABC only has two pilots in the works in Rachel Bloom’s “Do You Want Kids?” comedy and “The Rookie: North” drama, and neither show has been confirmed for the 2026-27 season. All that being said, ABC should have a fair amount of room in its slate to grant renewals to the majority of its lineup, and its renewed series represent shows on different ends of the ratings spectrum.

“High Potential” continues to be ABC’s shining star in its second season. The Kaitlin Olson-led series ranks as the No. 2 most-watched multiplatform broadcast show — behind only CBS’ “Tracker” — with 12.67 million viewers, according to multiplatform live-plus-seven-day Nielsen data through Feb. 15. 

While a renewal for “High Potential” was a sure bet, there are not one but two shows higher on the ratings totem pole than the “9-1-1” series that have yet to get the next season greenlight: “Will Trent” and long-running favorite “The Rookie.” “Will Trent” and “The Rookie” have averaged 9.44 million viewers and 9.1 million viewers, respectively season-to-date, while “9-1-1” averaged 7.82 million viewers and spinoff “9-1-1: Nashville” earned 6.85 million average viewers in its first season. Chances seem to look pretty good for “Will Trent” especially, given that the Ramón Rodríguez-led series ranks as the No. 4 most-watched multiplatform broadcast show, behind CBS’ “Matlock.”

The straggler among dramas is the beloved “Grey’s Anatomy,” which is averaging 5.64 million viewers in its 22nd season, the lowest viewership of ABC’s slate per multiplatform figures through mid-February. But the show remains a streaming juggernaut as fans rewatch across its more than 450 episodes and counting. “Grey’s,” ABC’s longest-running scripted primetime series, hasn’t been renewed for Season 23 yet, but there have been reports of conversations surrounding reduced budgets moving forward, including the possibility of a lower episode order than the standard 18 episodes established during the pandemic.

Though the same season-to-date numbers aren’t available for “RJ Decker,” which only premiered on March 3, debut ratings for the series place its viewership at 11.64 million viewers after six days of viewing across ABC, Hulu, Hulu on Disney+ and digital platforms. With its live-plus-same-day viewership of 3.69 million, “RJ Decker” scored the best 10 p.m. drama debut on ABC in over five years, since the premiere of “Big Sky.”  

On the comedy side, “Abbott Elementary” was the first to have its fate cemented with a Season 6 renewal, while its comedy peers “Shifting Gears” and “Scrubs” remain on the bubble, though the latter is still early on in its rollout.  

In its fifth season, “Abbott Elementary,” which is also an awards darling for the network, is averaging 6.09 million viewers, while “Shifting Gears” is averaging 6.86 million viewers. While the same data isn’t available for “Scrubs” since the reboot debuted Feb. 25, ABC reported the Bill Lawrence-created series tallied 11.36 million viewers in its first days of viewing on ABC, Hulu, Hulu on Disney+ and other digital platforms. 

It’s worth noting that “Dancing With the Stars” ranked as the No. 5 multiplatform broadcast series with an average 9.11 million viewers after its fresh casting brought in a new generation of fans that embraced the show’s appointment viewing. “American Idol” wasn’t too far behind with 7.6 million viewers, ranking as the No. 18 multiplatform broadcast show. 

The other unscripted component for ABC is, of course, “The Bachelor” franchise, which has undergone some shifts and paused during the 2025-26 season. It will return with the star power of “The Secret Lives of Mormon Wives” lead Taylor Frankie Paul, who will star in the next season of “The Bachelorette” when it debuts on March 22.

While ABC shared the bulk of its decisions earlier on, renewals have been trickling in across the networks in the leadup to upfronts, with CBS giving early greenlights to 10 shows and Fox handing out renewals to “Animal Control” and “Doc.” Keep an eye out for upcoming analyses as those decisions tally up.

“The Fall and Rise of Reggie Dinkins” Grows

After its post-NFL premiere boosted “The Fall and Rise of Reggie Dinkins” to rank as the most-watched comedy episode this season with 5.8 million viewers, the pilot has since amassed nearly 13 million viewers since Jan. 18. Additionally, Episode 2 stands as the most-watched NBC comedy episode on Peacock this season.

“The Pitt” holds steady

“The Pitt” is holding strong in its second season, most recently becoming the No. 4 most-watched streaming show during the week of Feb. 2 — which coincided with the drop of Episode 5 — with 940 million viewing minutes, per Nielsen. While viewership was down from the weekly high of 1.21 billion viewing minutes — which boosted the show to its highest placement to date — it achieved the previous week, the medical drama maintained its spot on the overall streaming list.

NHL hits a high

Sunday’s NHL game between the Detroit Red Wings and the New Jersey Devils brought in ESPN’s most-viewed game in five years, excluding Opening Night and Stadium Series, with 863,000 viewers. Viewership for the game, which peaked at 941,000 viewers, was up 111% over last season’s NHL on ESPN average. Through 33 games, the NHL on ESPN and ABC is averaging 782,000 viewers, marking a 21% year-over-year uptick.

ICYMI

• Alan Ritchson’s “War Machine” hit an impressive 39.3 million views during its opening weekend on Netflix, soaring to the top of the most-watched English films list
• “Fallout” notched over 1 billion viewing minutes on Prime Video with its Season 2 finale drop
• “Love Story: John F. Kennedy Jr. & Carolyn Bessette” became FX’s most-watched limited series ever on Disney+ and Hulu as it tallied more than 25 million hours over its first five episodes

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