Inside the 2015-16 True Power Rankings

The True Power Rankings line up all the network's shows based on their most recent (last one-third of episodes aired) averages in the timeslot-adjusted metric True. Check back every week for updates!

This year, three of the most important metrics have been colorized to help visualize the true nature of a show's ratings. Here are the details on what all the colors and numbers mean.

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Heat - This compares the last one-third of True results (True) with all episodes that happened before the True average except for the premiere. In other words, this illustrates whether the show has been getting stronger or weaker in recent episodes.

Colors:  C O L D  (Heat -10% or worse) |  C O O L   (Heat -9% to -5%) | NORMAL (Heat -4% to +4%) |  W A R M   (Heat +5% to +9%) |   H O T    (Heat +10% or better)

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Skew - This measures how much of the show's total viewership falls within the A18-49 demo. Historically, most shows that have very favorable ad rates per rating point also have very high Skews, so higher is generally considered better (and thus in green).

The median big five entertainment series skews around 35% A18-49.

Colors:  VERY LIGHT  (less than 20% of audience is 18-49) |  LIGHT  (20-29%) | NORMAL (30-39%) |  HEAVY  (40-49%) |  VERY HEAVY  (50% or more of audience is 18-49)

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%Male - This measures how much of the show's A18-49 audience is male. Historically, most shows that have very favorable ad rates per rating point also have a heavy concentration in one gender. Neither gender is necessarily preferable, but a higher concentration of one (the darker colors) tends to be better.

The median big five entertainment series' 18-49 audience skews around 41% male. This means that the way people traditionally think of "skewing male" (that is, more males than females) is actually defined as "very male" on this spectrum.

Colors:  VERY FEMALE  (30% or less male) |  FEMALE  (31-35% male) | NORMAL (36-45% male) |  MALE  (46-50% male) |  VERY MALE  (51% or more male)

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Also included in the table:
A18-49 - The last-one-third average in raw 18-49 ratings, which can be compared to True to estimate difficulty of the timeslot.
y2y - The full season's year-to-year trend.
Eps - Before the slash: the number of episodes used in the A18-49/True averages. After the slash: the total number of episodes this season to date.