CW True Power Rankings, January 2012

Here's the fifth and final part of our journey through the five networks' scripted series by ranking their season-to-date TRUE averages. I've pushed the introductory stuff from the first post to the bottom.

Other networks: ABC | CBS | NBC | Fox | The CW

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The Elite
1. The Vampire Diaries (1.53)

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The WB/UPN Division
2. America's Next Top Model (0.82)
3. Supernatural (0.81)
4. One Tree Hill (0.75)

I mentioned this as a possibility last time, and at least for now, it's a reality. The CW is in the sixth season of its existence and has come up with exactly one show in that time that's stronger than the stuff it got from the old netlets. A snarkier man than I would probably revel in that. But I'd expect the phasing out to continue anyway. One Tree Hill ends this season, and I wouldn't be too surprised to see a Supernatural final season announcement going into 2012-13.

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Nikita and the Newbies
5. 90210 (0.73)
6. The Secret Circle (0.71)
7. Ringer (0.67)
8. Nikita (0.66)
9. Hart of Dixie (0.64)

OK, and 90210, I just liked the '60s rock band name. What comes out of this bunch is really anyone's guess. If the network follows raw numbers and eschews things like viewing levels and lead-in dynamics, then that favors The Secret Circle and hurts something like Nikita. But that's about all I got.

One note is that Hart of Dixie is a little closer to this pack than it was the last time I did one of these. I would mention that it's put up some ugly post-hiatus numbers, but then so has almost every single other show on the network.

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The Sure Thing Division
10. Gossip Girl (0.56)

Michael Ausiello's renewal scorecard recently upgraded Gossip Girl, its network's lowest-rated scripted show, to "a sure thing." (TVD and Top Model are the network's only other sure things.) In this case, I'd trust him before I trust the ratings, but I just find it kinda funny.

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The Reality Flops
11. H8R (0.47)
12. Remodeled (0.20)

Much has been made of the CW's inability to get much of anything going in the scripted department, but those shows are still bonafide hits compared to the reality they churn out every year. When do they just throw in the towel on this genre? Maybe Top Model is just the exception to the rule.

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Hell yeah. It's Power Rankings week. In case you missed the first set, I use season averages in my True Strength metric to rank each network's shows by genre. All averages this time are through January 29.

One change: This time, I am continuing to use the full list of TRUE scores this season, but I'm dropping both the biggest and the smallest result from each show's list (unless it has less than three results). With most shows (especially returning ones) this won't make a huge difference, but it does have the double benefit of 1) reducing the early-episode inflation present especially in new shows and 2) also dropping the occasional major outlier that the TRUE calculation can't properly portray for whatever reason.