Also, viewer preferences are irrelevant when it comes to whether a show should have been canceled or not. That would presume that television networks are in bus

Also, viewer preferences are irrelevant when it comes to whether a show should have been canceled or not. That would presume that television networks are in business to produce quality content rather than to make money. Advertiser preferences are far more relevant. One could argue that Advertisers usually want to advertise in shows that people like to watch, but there are nuances to that and IMDB ratings aren't broken down by demo, so we can't even know in hindsight. The reality is that Fox's decision was likely based on being able to charge more for ads on some new show, which makes it correct both at the time and in hindsight.