Weekly Ratings Report, DVR, Live Viewing, Men & Does it Even Matter?

December Update: Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. continues to rate very well and we expect a season 2 announcement soon (our money is on news in January). The last two episode of Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. have increased in the overnight ratings with the most recent episode “Repairs” rating as the second highest episode of the season in both total viewers and in the 18-49 demographic.

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(Originally posted Nov 13, 2013)
It’s ratings time again and we’re happy to report that in the latest DVR+7 figures to be released from the episode “Eye-Spy” Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. gained a massive 74% increase, and achieved the 4th largest gain (1.7 points) of all shows throughout that week. S.H.I.E.L.D. is continuing to achieve excellent results in the male demographics, an area in which ABC has always lacked in the past and something they were hoping to address with S.H.I.E.L.D.

ABC reports that last week S.H.I.E.L.D. spiked 19% from the previous episode in Men 18-34 to achieve a 5-Week High in this much desired and hard to attract demographic.

Last week finance site  The Motley Fool reported on Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.’s success pointing out that S.H.I.E.L.D. is currently ranked number two in broadcast entertainment behind only The Big Bang Theory when it comes to the male demographic:

However, its sheer numbers can only go so far, and that’s why “overall” ratings can be a tad deceiving. When you dig deeper, there are several reasons Disney is happy to have Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. on its side.

First, consider the fact that last week’s episode marked the sixth consecutive time Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. has ranked as Tuesday’s number-one show in the key men’s 18 to 49 year-old demographic. In fact, season-to-date, Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. is also currently ranked the number two overall broadcast entertainment series in men 18-49, behind only CBS’ long-standing favorite, The Big Bang Theory.

Executive Producer Jeph Loeb noted in an podcast released by Word Balloon yesterday that Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. opened up against the biggest shows in both reality television and drama on Tuesday nights and made a point of saying delayed viewing via DVR still counts and once you add in those numbers the show is “gigantic”. The most important thing he says when discussing the ratings is “all of that is very secondary” he said “one of the things we’re trying to do is try and do the best job you can and hope folks enjoy it, and folks seem to be and that’s very cool.”

Last night’s episode “The Hub” achieved a 2.2 in the 18-49 demographic and reached 6.63 million viewers overall (there’s a good chance S.H.I.E.L.D. will increase when the final adjustments are released later today).

Here are the numbers for Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. over the past 7 episodes including the +3 and +7 DVR figures where available (note, these numbers do not include repeat airings or online viewing.)

		Overnight							Live + 3			Live + 7
		HH Share	18-49 Share		Total Viewers (mil)		Rank		18-49	up by	mil	18-49	up by	mil
Date	Episode Title	%	Initial	Final	Initial	Final	18-49	mil
Sep 24	Pilot	7.7	4.6	4.7	11.90	12.12	7	13	6.4		15.8	7.0	49%	17.01
Oct 1	0-8-4	5.6	3.1	3.3	8.4	8.66	14	–	4.92	51%	12.07	5.4	64%	13.17
Oct 8	The Asset	5.1	2.8	2.9	7.8	7.87	12	–				4.8	68%	12.01
Oct 15	Eye-Spy	5.1	2.7	2.8	7.7	7.85	15					4.4	74%	11.16
Oct 22	The Girl in the Flower Dress	5.1	2.6	2.7	7.13	7.39	19
Nov 4	F.Z.Z.T.	4.5	2.5		7.03		19
Nov 11	The Hub	4.2	2.2		6.63

The following comparisons with other 8pm shows are based on intial numbers, not finals (Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. always ticks up in the finals)

Total Viewers	Ep 1	Ep 2	Ep 3	Ep 4	Ep 5	Ep 6	Ep 7
Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.	11.9	8.4	7.79	7.68	7.13	7.03	6.63
The Voice / Biggest Loser	14.14	14.2	10.03	7.00	6.64	6.62	6.30
NCIS	19.47	19.33	17.87	18.43	18.58	18.98	19.91
18-49 Demographic	Ep 1	Ep 2	Ep 3	Ep 4	Ep 5	Ep 6	Ep 7
Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.	4.6	3.1	2.8	2.7	2.6	2.5	2.2
The Voice / Biggest Loser	4.6	4.4	2.9	2.2	2.0	2.1	1.8
NCIS	3.4	3.4	2.7	3.0	3.0	2.9	2.9