ABC waited more than month to make its first cancellation and made "Manhattan Love Story" the first victim of the 2014 fall season.
The new series premiered to ratings of 4.7 million viewers but soon plummeted to 2.7 million by its fourth and final episode. The more telling Live+7 DVR numbers, which accounts for total viewers who play the episode back in the week after the original episode aired, only boosted the show's ratings by 15 percent, according to TVLine.com.
"Manhattan Love Story" starred Analeigh Tipton and Jake McDorman and showed the beginning of a new relationship through each character's unfiltered inner monologues. ABC paired the series with "Selfie" for a one-hour block of comedy at 8 p.m. on Tuesdays.
ABC will air the Halloween special "The Great Halloween Fright Fight" during the comedies' time period on Oct. 28. The network will fill the empty time-slot with another episode of "Selfie" on Nov. 4.
"Selfie" may also risk cancellation, but its ratings have held steady and seen a lift from DVR numbers. Other shows on the bubble include NBC's "A to Z," and a majority of Fox's new series such as "Utopia," "Mulaney," "Red Band Society," and "Gracepoint."
The newer DVR ratings may keep networks from pulling the trigger too soon on a new show. They want to analyze how many viewers watch live plus how many cue up their favorite series at a time more convenient for their schedules.
"For some shows, this more complex TV business could mean a longer life, as they get a second season to prove their worth. For others, it may just mean a slower death," James Poniewozik wrote for Time on Oct. 21 about the lack of TV cancellations. "Bottom line, the more ways TV has to turn viewership into money, the more complicated it becomes to turn new shows into old memories."
