‘Agents of SHIELD,’ ‘NCIS’ and Other Top Tuesday Shows Fall

UPDATE: In the nationals released this afternoon by Nielsen, NBC’s “The Voice” edged up (2.9/8 in 18-49, 10.0 million viewers overall) while its “Chicago Fire” (2.2/6 in 18-49, 7.6 million viewers overall) came down slightly (2.1/6 in 18-49, 7.43 million). ABC’s “Marvel’s Agents of SHIELD” was up a tick (2.9/9 in 18-49, 7.87m), and the net’s “The Goldbergs” lost a tenth (1.9/5 in 18-49, 5.76m). Also up one tick in 18-49 from the morning prelims was CBS’ “NCIS” (2.8/9 in 18-49, 18.33m).

In cable, FX’s “Sons of Anarchy” (2.5/7 in 18-49, 4.46 million viewers overall) won in 18-49 at 10 p.m. over the broadcast dramas. The American League Divisional Series game between Boston and Tampa on TBS did a 1.5/5 in 18-49 and 5.16 million viewers overall, the largest postseason audience for Major League Baseball this month.

NBC and CBS split leadership on the third Tuesday of the season, a night that saw ABC’s “Marvel’s Agents of SHIELD” decline further but edge out “NCIS” among young adults. Most shows were down week to week, with Fox’s “Brooklyn Nine-Nine” and “New Girl” joining ABC’s “Trophy Wife” in bucking the trend.

CW had a good night with the timeslot premiere of rookie “The Originals” and the season premiere of vet “Supernatural” on its new night, which combined for the network’s top-rated Tuesday in two years.

According to preliminary national estimates from Nielsen, NBC led Tuesday in adults 18-49 thanks to a two-hour “The Voice” recap of the best blind auditions this season. It was down more than 30% from last week’s episode of first-run blind auditions. NBC had intended “The Biggest Loser” to bow last night but delayed it to get more “Voice” on its schedule and to make things tougher for the competition in the 8 o’clock hour.

Closing the night for NBC, “Chicago Fire” (2.2/6 in 18-49, 7.6 million viewers overall) was down week-to-week by about 15% (0.4), but that’s not bad considering its “Voice” lead-in (3.1 at 9:30 p.m.) was 40% lower than last week (5.2). “Fire” remained on top of “Person of Interest” in 18-49 by a smaller margin, but the second-year drama could be surpassed by FX’s “Sons of Anarchy” in the nationals.

Elsewhere, ABC’s “Marvel’s Agents of SHIELD” (2.8/9 in 18-49, 7.7 million viewers overall) was down about 10% week to week, in a neck-and-neck battle with both “The Voice” and “NCIS” and standing as the night’s No. 1 series in men 18-34, 18-49 and 25-54.. Despite the decline, it more than doubled the 1.3 rating ABC did a year ago in the timeslot with “Dancing With the Stars” — and will nearly quadruple it when full-week DVR data is included.

“SHIELD” was followed by comedies “The Goldbergs” (2.0/5 in 18-49, 5.7 million viewers overall) and “Trophy Wife” (1.4/4 in 18-49, 4.7 million viewers overall), with the former down about 10% and the latter flat week to week. A special repeat of “Scandal” finished the night for ABC (1.0/3 in 18-49, 3.2 million viewers overall), outperfoming last week’s second and final episode of “Lucky 7″ in the timeslot.

At CBS, “NCIS” (2.7/8 in 18-49, 17.9 million viewers overall) was down about 20% from last week, which was the farewell episode for the popular Cote de Pablo. Still, it was in the hunt in 18-49 while winning in 25-54 (3.9/11) and remaining easily the night’s most-watched program overall. “NCIS: Los Angeles” (2.6/7 in 18-49, 14.8 million viewers overall) and “Person of Interest” (2.0/6 in 18-49, 11.7 million viewers overall) held up better, down just slightly from last week.

CBS tied with NBC for the night’s lead in adults 25-54 while cruising in total viewers.

Fox’s comedy block was up slightly from last week, with bookends “Dads” (1.3/4 in 18-49, 3.1 million viewers overall) and “The Mindy Project” (1.4/4 in 18-49, 3.0 million viewers overall) holding steady. In between, both “Brooklyn Nine-Nine” at 8:30 p.m. (1.5/4 in 18-49, 3.4 million viewers overall) and “New Girl” at 9 (2.1/6 in 18-49, 4.0 million viewers overall) were up a tick. “New Girl” edged ahead of ABC’s “Goldbergs” in 18-49 as the 9 o’clock comedy hour has become pretty competitive between the two networks.

Fox ran a distant fourth among the Big Four in 18-49 but moved up to second (behind NBC) in adults 18-34.

At CW, the timeslot premiere of “The Originals” did a 0.9/3 in 18-49 and 1.9 million viewers overall, holding most of its premiere audience when it aired last Thursday behind its progenitor, “The Vampire Diaries,” and providing the net with gains over last year’s “Hart of Dixie.” This is a solid start, especially considering the hour’s tough drama competition for live viewers.

And at 9, “Supernatural” built on that lead-in (1.2/3 in 18-49, 2.5 million viewers overall) and was up over last year’s premiere on a Wednesday. In fact, this was “Supernatural’s” strongest start to a season in three years and its best 18-49 score for any episode since October 2010.

Overall, it was the best Tuesday delivery for CW in key demos in two years and its largest overall audience on the night in four years.

Preliminary 18-49 averages for the night: NBC, 2.7/8; CBS, 2.4/7; ABC, 1.8/5; Fox, 1.6/5; Univision, 1.3/4; CW, 1.0/3; Telemundo, 0.5/1.

In total viewers: CBS, 14.8 million; NBC, 9.2 million; ABC, 5.4 million; Fox and Univision, 3.4 million; CW, 2.2 million; Telemundo, 1.3 million.

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