‘NCIS’ Surpasses ‘SHIELD’ in Demo, ‘Originals’ Hits High

UPDATE: In the nationals released this afternoon by Nielsen, both “NCIS” (3.1/9 in 18-49, 18.83m) and “Marvel’s Agents of SHIELD” (2.8/8 in 18-49, 7.65m) edged up, leaving the latter down a tenth from last week. At NBC, both “The Biggest Loser” (2.3/7 in 18-49, 7.16m) and “The Voice” (4.0/11 in 18-49, 12.99m) were up slightly, while “Chicago Fire” dipped a tenth (2.3/7 in 18-49, 8.08m).

CBS pulled close at 10 p.m. with “Person of Interest” (2.2/6 in 18-49, 12.69m), which was up a tick in the nationals and rose 10% week-to-week.

CW’s “Supernatural” came down to 1.0/3 in 18-49 but maintained its 1.0/3 in adults 18-34.

FX’s “Sons of Anarchy” (2.3/7 in 18-49, 4.36m) tied with “Chicago Fire” for first in 18-49 at 10 o’clock.

TBS’ coverage of baseball’s primetime National League Championship between the St. Louis Cardinals and Los Angeles Dodgers averaged a 1.6/6 in 18-49 and 5.79 million viewers overall. Earlier, Fox’s 4 p.m. ET game in the American League Championship Series between Detroit and Boston did a 1.4/7 in the demo and 5.60 million total viewers.

Even as it shifted into regular-lineup mode for the first time, and “The Biggest Loser” coming on board, NBC remained on top of Tuesday’s young-adult leaderboard behind “The Voice” and “Chicago Fire.” It was also a good night for CBS vet “NCIS,” which moved ahead of ABC’s “Marvel’s Agents of SHIELD” among adults under 50.

And at CW, “The Originals” logged its best scores in three airings to date, combining with “Supernatural” to lift the net to its best Tuesday among adults 18-49 in four years.

According to preliminary national estimates from Nielsen, NBC opened the night with a third-place finish with the season premiere of “The Biggest Loser” (2.2/7 in 18-49, 7.0 million viewers overall), which did OK given the competition but was down from its most recent opener in January. It was followed by “The Voice” (3.9/10 in 18-49, 12.7 million viewers overall), the night’s No. 1 show in most demos and up 30% from last week’s two-hour clips show.

And at 10, “Chicago Fire” (2.4/7 in 18-49, 8.2 million viewers overall) was again the broadcast leader in 18-49. The show has clearly benefited from its new timeslot, up 50% from the rating it pulled with its fourth episode last year when it aired on Wednesday (1.6).

At CW, “The Originals” (1.1/3 in 18-49, 2.2 million viewers overall) seemed to benefit from not having to face “The Voice,” rising across the board and outperforming its first two original episodes (including its post-”Vampire Diaries” premiere on a Thursday), in 18-49 and women 18-34 (1.5/5).

And “Supernatural” (1.1/3 in 18-49, 2.3 million viewers overall) was down a bit from its season premiere of last week but was up in most categories from its year-ago Wednesday delivery. And for the night, CW had its best 18-49 average on a Tuesday in four years, and its best 18-34 delivery in more than two years.

CBS, which edged past NBC for the night’s lead in adults 25-54 and led easily in total viewers, opened with week-to-week gains for “NCIS” (3.0/9 in 18-49, 18.4 million viewers overall). The 11-year drama moved ahead of ABC’s first-year “Agents of SHIELD” (2.7/8 in 18-49, 7.7 million viewers overall) in 18-49 for the second time in their four matchups. (The other time “NCIS” won in 18-49 was the night Cote de Pablo exited the show.)

“SHIELD,” which does pick up more young adult viewers in DVR playback than its timeslot rival, has now declined in 18-49 with each of its three episodes since its premiere: 4.6, 3.1, 2.8 and 2.7 (fast nationals).

A positive for the new ABC drama was a 16% rise in adults 18-34 (to 2.2/7) as it may have picked up some younger adults who had been watching “The Voice” in previous weeks. In men 18-34 (2.4/9), it was Tuesday’s No. 1 broadcast.

Following “NCIS” for CBS, “NCIS: Los Angeles” (2.6/7 in 18-49, 14.7 million viewers overall) was in line with last week, and “Person of Interest” was up slightly at 10 (2.1/6 in 18-49, 12.4 million viewers overall). “Person” won its hour in adults 25-54 (3.2/8).

At ABC, the declining “SHIELD” was followed by the lowest scores yet for “The Goldbergs” (1.6/4 in 18-49, 5.1 million viewers overall) and “Trophy Wife” (1.3/4 in 18-49, 4.1 million viewers overall). “Goldbergs” was down 16% (0.3) from last week, and “Trophy” edged down a tick.

Fox’s “Dads” (1.4/4 in 18-49, 3.4 million viewers overall) was up slightly, while “Brooklyn Nine-Nine” was flat (1.5/4 in 18-49, 3.4 million viewers overall); the net would like to see them performing better, but at least they have stabilized. Anchor “New Girl” was down to a low (1.8/5 in 18-49, 3.5 million viewers overall), but “The Mindy Project” (1.4/4 in 18-49, 2.8 million viewers overall) matched its week-ago score.

Preliminary 18-49 averages for the night: NBC, 2.8/8; CBS, 2.6/7; ABC, 1.6/5; Fox, 1.5/4; Telemundo, 1.3/4; CW and Univision, 1.1/3.

In total viewers: CBS, 15.2 million; NBC, 9.3 million; ABC, 5.0 million; Fox, 3.3 million; Univision, 3.0 million; Telemundo, 2.8 million; CW, 2.3 million.

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