Ratings Are In For AGENTS OF S.H.I.E.L.D., But It's NOT IT IS The Highest Premiere Of The Fall
They may not have even started filming the sequel yet, but Ultron is already causing a problem for S.H.I.E.L.D.! Despite being hyped up by Marvel all summer, Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. debuted with lower ratings than NBC's The Blacklist which, as you'll know, stars James Spader.
Marvel's Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. was hyped up all summer as arguably THE most anticipated new series to debut this Fall. However, it started strong on ABC last night, with an early set of numbers (courtesy of The Wrap) indicating that it had an extremely impressive 4.9 rating/15 in the key 18-49 demographic. When it comes to total viewership though, "Another set of numbers, measuring 56 Nielsen markets, suggested 'S.H.I.E.L.D.' wouldn’t be able to touch 'The Blacklist'." Ultimately, that really doesn't matter. While it would have been a good for The Avengers spin-off to boast that they'd had the highest ratings debut for a new series, these numbers are more than enough to ensure that it's here to say providing they remain steady in the coming weeks.
UPDATE: The Wrap has now updated their report, saying that: "blew away its fall competition with the biggest network debut in more than a year. The ABC show earned a 4.6/14 with 11.9 million total viewers." They also say that it scored the biggest drama premiere in 4 years!