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ABC Renews 13 Shows, 'Cougar Town' Defects To TBS

Fans are still awaiting the fate of a few others on the alphabet schedule

It's nothing but good news coming out of the ABC camp Thursday night, but only if you're one of more than a dozen shows that officially received renewals.

ABC has decided to return "The Bachelor," "Castle," "Dancing With the Stars," "Don't Trust the B in Apt. 23," "Grey's Anatomy," "Happy Endings," "The Middle," "Modern Family," "Once Upon a Time," "Private Practice," "Revenge," "Shark Tank" and "Suburgatory." That's according to multiple news outlets that include Deadline.com, TV Line's Michael Ausiello and Entertainment Weekly's James Hibberd.

Most of these renewals are not a surprise. In fact, most of them -- except for "Don't Trust the B" and "Happy Endings" -- were on Inside Blip's "Safe Bet" list last month. "Happy Endings" was listed as "Still Bouncing," meaning it still had a chance at life, and "Don't Trust the B" had not yet premiered, so we were not able to made a prediction on its fate.

This is tremendous news for "Happy Endings." Through the end of April, the comedy has had the biggest audience growth in all of network television gaining more than 37 percent over last year. "The Voice" on NBC was the closest in audience growth with a little more than 22 percent, but that is likely to fall a bit when ratings are finalized at the end of May.

The comedy is currently ranked No. 19 on ABC's schedule and No. 56 overall with a 4.0 rating/6 share, according to Fast National overnight ratings from The Nielsen Co., but that's a tremendous improvement from where it was last year ranked No. 27 on ABC's schedule and No. 85 overall with a 2.9/4.

ABC apparently believes that growth can continue, and is willing to give it another season to test it out.

Also getting a huge vote of confidence is the reality competition series "Shark Tank" that is not only returning for another season, but for the first time is getting a full 22 episodes, according to EW. Airing on Fridays, "Shark Tank" has grown its audience nearly 16 percent from last year, ranked No. 24 on ABC's schedule and No. 66 overall. The series also has an Audience Loyalty Index rating of 92.1, meaning of all the people who have tuned in for at least one episode of "Shark Tank," more than 92 percent of them return each week for more.

"Don't Trust the B" is not pulling in the most perfect numbers for ABC, but it is averaging a 3.9/6 through the end of April, and has earned a rank of No. 20 at ABC, No. 24 among new shows and No. 59 overall. The network apparently believes that the style of comedy needs a chance to find an audience, and is going to give the show a chance to maybe pull off a "Happy Endings" of its own.

There are still a number of shows where there has been no decision. They include "Last Man Standing," "Scandal," "Body of Proof," "Missing" and "GCB." A possibility remains on those shows for return, but two others not included in the initial renewal list -- "The River" and "Pan Am" -- are almost certainly gone.

Only one show, outside of the group ABC cancelled earlier this year, is officially gone, and that's Courteney Cox's "Cougar Town." That show returned to ABC with a 3.0/5, losing nearly 28 percent of its audience from last year.

ABC is saying goodbye to the show, but according to TV Week, it will move to TBS. The Turner cable channel has not only ordered another season, but also picked up the encore rights to the 61 episodes that have already been made for ABC.

ABC is averaging a 5.6/9 so far this year, second only to the 7.4/12 from CBS. Of the returning shows that will now get a new season, only "Modern Family" (10.7 percent) and "The Middle" (4.7 percent) can join "Shark Tank" and "Happy Endings" of shows that had audience growth over last year. "The Bachelor" is returning despite its viewership sliding more than 17 percent, and "Dancing" has lost nearly 13 percent of its audience from last year, but is the No. 2 network television show, now behind "NCIS" on CBS.

About the Author

Michael Hinman is the founder and editor-in-chief for Airlock Alpha and the entire GenreNexus. He owns Nexus Media Group Inc., the parent corporation of the GenreNexus and is a veteran print journalist. He lives in Tampa, Fla.
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