Potentially bad news for Red Band Society fans: the already low ratings for the new Fox dramedy have dipped from last week’s series premiere.

When Red Band Society premiered last Wednesday, we reported disappointingly low ratings for the new series. While the numbers were decent, they were nowhere near as impressive as we’re sure Fox was aiming for.

Red Band Society seemed poised to fill the gap which Glee will soon be leaving, giving us sentimental teen drama mixed with a bit of gritty Fault in Our Stars-style realism.

Related: Red Band Society season 1, episode 2 recap: Heart and sole

But while last week’s ratings could partially have been explained away by the fact that the pilot episode had been available online for over a month, this week’s numbers confirm the sad fact that Red Band just isn’t as popular as we want it to be.

The second episode, “Sole Searching,” drew a 2.6 household rating, with a 1.0 in the all-important 18-49 age group (down from last week’s 1.3).

It makes sense that less people would tune in to a show’s second episode than its first. And of course we have to consider the fact that Red Band Society is up against long-running monster hits Modern Family, Survivor and Law & Order: SVU.

Related: Octavia Spencer to have bigger role in future Red Band Society episodes

It’s not a terrible rating in itself, but sadly the numbers matter a great deal to network executives, even in this age of DVR’ing and online streaming. With a 13% drop from an already unimpressive start, we’re left wondering how long it’ll take before Fox decides to, er, pull the plug.

Have you enjoyed the first two episodes of Red Band Society? Fox has issued a 13-episode order for its first season, with an option to add nine more – but at this point, we doubt that’ll be the case.

If the show is renewed for a second season, executive producer Rina Mimoun has floated the possibility that we might start following a new set of patients, with the hospital staff the only constant characters.

Red Band Society season 1, episode 3 “Liar, Liar Pants on Fire” airs next Wednesday at 9/8c on Fox.