'SHIELD' TV Ratings Decline While the Writing Improves

The word on the street is that ratings for ABC's Agents of SHIELD are still in a downward plummet, and last night's episode netted it it's lowest TV ratings yet.

But it's still the first "loser," sitting in second place for the 8pm hour, following NCIS, which is crushing everything in its path.

If NCIS weren't in the mix, Agents of SHIELD would have been first by just a few percentage points over NBCs The Biggest Loser.

The next closest contender has close to half the numbers these two do.

	18-49 rating	18-49 share	Viewers, live, Million
NCIS	2.9	8	18.98
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Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.	2.5	7	7.03
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The Biggest Loser	2.1	6	6.82
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Dads	1.4	4	3.67
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The Originals	0.9	3	2.03

What's interesting is as the TV ratings sag, the show is getting better and the mystery that is Agent Phil Coulson is starting to have more tangible clues and references being dropped. At least compared to the usual one-liners that seem to be more insulting to the TV watching crowd.

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Plus if you haven't noticed, ratings tend to sag for most shows.  They start out strong in the beginning of any season then they go flat as a TV season progresses.  Then the numbers come back up for the last few episodes of a season.

Hence, in my opinion/observation, why we've been introduced to mid-season breaks.  Everyone loves a "season premiere" episode, and mid-season premiere episodes tend to invigorate the viewing numbers.

Be that as it may, the group in Agents of SHIELD has started to gel, the cases are pulling them together, and each week something new pushes a different character to their limits.

In other words, I'm not cringing like I was from the 2nd, 3rd or 4th episodes.  Though they still need to lighten up a bit on one-liners.  They're no longer valuable humor points when they become such a common commodity in the dialog.

Please take note ABC, Marvel, the Whedons.  Thanks!

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[Ratings info via TV by the Numbers]