Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. Ratings Up, But Not Huge, With Sif and Without New NCIS

Last night's must-watch episode of Marvel's Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. did, indeed, deliver improved ratings for the ABC drama, although maybe not quite as much as they'd have liked given the absence of a new episode of NCIS to compete with and a high-profile guest appearance by Lady Sif (Thor's Jaimie Alexander). The appearance by Sif, and the episode's Asgardian villain Lorelei, has had fans buzzing since its announcement back in January, and the last few episodes have generally received praise from viewers and critics. TV industry insiders have wondered how the absence of a new episode of Tuesday night juggernaut NCIS (which still won the night in overall viewers as a rerun, but lost out to S.H.I.E.L.D. and The Voice in the 18-49 demographic) would impact S.H.I.E.L.D.'s numbers, which are bouncing back from a series low last week. The last time S.H.I.E.L.D. aired a new episode without a new episode of NCIS to compete with, it drew 9 million viewers and was beat out only by a special screening of Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer.  It scored a 2.5 in the demo back then (November 27), versus a 2.0 now, with just under 6 million total households. By comparison, NCIS managed more than 13 million households but only a 1.3 in the demo. The show has been consistently delivering on Live+7 ratings, which take into account DVR'ed viewings that don't count in the overnight ratings. This is common for S.H.I.E.L.D., likely because those viewers are watching NCIS live and then coming back to their other shows later. It's also bringing in males in the 18-49 demographic, a rarity for ABC, whose programming skews older and female. This has led to very little serious discussion of the prospect that the franchise-friendly series (which also ties into and cross-promotes Marvel Studios films like this year's Captain America: The Winter Soldier and Guardians of the Galaxy) will not be picked up for a second season, even as one of the driving media narratives about the show is that non-fans are questioning why.