Ratings watch: Latest on ‘Hannibal’ season 2, ‘Hart of Dixie,’ ‘Last Man Standing’ season 3

As we get closer and closer to the upfront presentations in May, this is the time when we truly begin our discussions as to what will likely be picked up by the network for another season, and what will most-likely be taken away.

“Hannibal” – This is a show that we feel is likely going to be renewed just because of its quality more so than the ratings. It received a 1.0 in the 18-49 demographic, but this may be inflated thanks to Portland’s market airing an NBA playoff game. If this show is canceled, we see it most likely being picked up somewhere else, anyway (especially since Amazon Prime now has a big deal with it).

“Hart of Dixie” – This is another bubble show that may be saved thanks to another common reason: Syndication. Typically shows with even bad ratings get picked up just so they can be sold into repeats, but the reason that is not a given here in our mind is that we don’t know how much of a demand there will be for “Hart of Dixie” in syndication, since it’s mostly serialized and harder to repeat hundreds of times.

“Last Man Standing” – We don’t discuss the Tim Allen comedy much, and mostly because the majority of people likely forget that it is even on the air. It did win the 8:00 p.m. hour last night with a 1.3 rating, and it does also have syndication hopes going for it (which probably matter more here since it is easy to syndicate a comedy show like this). The only real downside is that compared to most other sitcoms in their third year, this one requires a financial commitment. Allen gets paid plenty of cash for the gig.

We’ll be starting up our ratings debates soon, so be sure to be on the lookout for those. Also, sign up if you want to get some further TV updates via our CarterMatt Newsletter.

Photo: NBC