The Gifted saw a slight dip in ratings and demo this week, but it wasn’t a huge shock. The show has maintained a steady viewership over the last few weeks, which is interesting considering the changing nature of its competition across the networks.

The biggest competition and hindrance to The Gifted’s ratings have been its placement right in the middle of two competition shows: Dancing with the Stars and The Voice. Both of these shows can reach around or close to ten million viewers a week and it is unlikely those viewers would be swayed to change channels to watch The Gifted halfway through.

The real reason for this week’s particular dip though has been the shifting around of CBS’s schedule to place Superior Donuts at the same time slot as The Gifted. The Gifted originally had very little direct competition in the 9 PM slot, but Superior Donuts’s placement and its 5.39 million viewers this week definitely hurt The Gifted even if just a little. It seems that if viewers had a choice between a serialized comic book drama and a comedy set in a donuts shop, the donuts would win.

Not all the shows in the same time slot pose a threat though. CW’s Valor runs at the same time, but has been getting slaughtered in ratings with barely over a million viewers. Though it getting moved could only benefit The Gifted in the future…