We're well into the fall TV season right now, and the battle for ratings has resulted surprisingly few casualties. Or cancellations, rather.

Almost all of this year's freshman shows survived their first month. And while networks have pulled the plug on a handful of shows, in general, they're being more patient than usual this year. 

Variety TV critic and columnist Brian Lowry explains that part of the reason is because of delayed DVR viewing, which makes it harder to get an instant snapshot of how well a show performed.

Another reason, he says, goes back to the fact that television audiences are so fragmented right now. 

If a show is doing poorly, Lowry says, "there is a real sense that just pulling something off to replace it, unless you have something that you're pretty confident will do better, it could very possibly do worse. There's no floor anymore."