Ratings Bubble Report: Will ‘Rush Hour’ remain stuck in CBS traffic?

When CBS chose to greenlight an adaptation of “Rush Hour” for their primetime schedule, they seemingly had one motive in mind: Trying to appeal to a slightly-younger crowd. It didn’t stray too far from the sort of crime shows that define their roster, but at the same time it is at least trying to bring in people who don’t usually watch the network.

Is that actually working? Maybe, but not even to save the show from cancellation worried. This is a show firmly on the bubble right now, and we’d say that when it comes to its pure ratings alone, its future is not looking particularly bright (even if the show itself has improved by a good measure since the pilot).

The case to keep it – Potential is a part of it, and caveats are another. When you think about it, “Rush Hour” is a show that never had that much of a chance this year. It premiered in late spring without an enormous promotional push, and in a timeslot that has been notoriously bad for CBS the past few years. It didn’t have a great lead-in, but even still you can argue that its average (1.0 in the 18-49 demographic for the season) is better than the already-renewed “Elementary.”

Also, with the creative team on board this show, you have to assume that there is a good chance that it could get stronger and stronger as time passes.

The case to cancel it – A 1.0 for a first-year show is a little different than a slightly lower rating for a show like “Elementary,” which is entering syndication at this point. Conventional wisdom suggests that shows drop at least 10% year-to-year, so CBS may be concerned that “Rush Hour” will drop to a 0.9 or 0.8 in season 2, and they figure that there may be another show that will probably get these numbers.

Also, when looking at other news shows, “Limitless,” “Supergirl,” and “Code Black” are all averaging better numbers. Therefore, it’s easy to assume that CBS would prefer to have them back. (We’re not including “Criminal Minds: Beyond Borders” because it’s a special case as a co-production.)