Board Thread:General Discussion/@comment-4775130-20150922222850/@comment-26159109-20150924155604

Hmcooper4 wrote: Actually, that makes no sense whatsoever. I agree that the ratings, in and of themselves, are agnostic of timeslots. However, Network execs are smarter than the ratings. They don't just consider trying to compare Once with, Say, How to Get away with Murder, or Marvel's Agents of Shield. If a show is winning it's timeslot, regardless of ratings (which are agnostic of timeslots), then that means that that show is drawing more of the target demographic than the competitors at that same time. And, as you say, it's a matter of economics, and if I've got a lion's share of the available audience for one night, I'm going to be very cautious with any changes made on that night.

A show that is doing poorly on one night has no guarentee that they will do any better on a different night, and in fact tends to lose ratings with the move. But a show that is doing great on one night can get hammered by moving. That strategy has backfired for many series over the years and decades. I agree that it's not intuitive, but it does make sense. When abc decides which show to cancel, they rank their own shows regardless of other shows on other networks. You should read at tvbythenumbers, they do these kind of calculations every year and there's a better explaination there.