Will Scream Queens Be Back?

Before the fall TV season began, odds were that Fox's Scream Queens would not have to worry over whether or not it would be renewed for a second season. Now that the series' short first season is over, though, speculation begins.

Scream Queens was one of the most talked about new series through the summer, and the buzz on social media over the show was intense. The assumption was that the series from Glee creators Ryan Murphy and Brad Falchuk would be an effortless hit. It had a novel (at least for TV) premise -- a campy, comedic horror-movie spoof -- and it had young people talking.

But the series opened to lukewarm, at best, critical response and, worse, tepid ratings. Unlike ABC's similarly hyped The Muppets, which started strong and quickly faded, Scream Queens' ratings were weak right out of the gate. By the end of its first-season run, it was attracting fewer than 3 million total viewers and earning less than a 1.0 rating in the 18-49 age demographic.

Those are unimpressive numbers, and they'd spell trouble for most series, but Scream Queens has some things going for it that will likely lead to its renewal. First, between Glee and American Horror Story, Murphy and Falchuk have a history of producing hits for Fox networks, and they can get away with a lot. Also, the rest of Fox's schedule is not doing so well, either, and Scream Queens doesn't look so bad by comparison.

Perhaps more importantly, Scream Queens' ratings are not as bad as they look at first glance. Although not many people are tuning in to watch it live, lots of young people are watching it later via DVR or streaming. Those delayed viewings more than double the show's overall ratings, and they get tons of ads in front of the eyes of young people -- which is what really matters to the network.

So, although Scream Queens looks in many ways like a failure, it may actually be the new model of TV success. And it will probably be back for a second season.