Ratings Race: S.H.I.E.L.D., Once Upon A Time Open Strong

With so many science fiction and fantasy shows on broadcast and cable television this season, we want to keep tabs on how our favorites are performing in the weekly ratings game, and how their viewership compares to one another. So once each week we’ll run down the ratings numbers for the previous week of genre shows.

Of course comparing S.H.I.E.L.D. to Haven to The Walking Dead is a bit like comparing apples and oranges and zombie death melons. And a lot of different factors go into a network’s decision to renew or cancel a series. So take these weekly reports with a grain of salt.

Last week we saw the series premiere of Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D., season premieres for Once Upon A Time and Revolution, and the important second episode for Sleepy Hollow. More shows are coming this week!

Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.: 12.12 million, 4.7 rating (18-49)
Tuesday, 8/7c (ABC) – “Pilot”

Sleepy Hollow: 8.56 million (-15%), 3.1 rating (18-49)
Monday, 9/8c (FOX) – “Blood Moon”

Once Upon A Time: 8.45 million (+15%), 2.6 rating (18-49)
Sunday, 8/7c (ABC) – “The Heart of the Truest Believer”

Revolution: 6.81 million (+10%), 1.8 rating (18-49)
Wednesday, 8/7c (NBC) – “Born In the U.S.A.”

Haven: 1.54 million (+13%), 0.5 rating (18-49)
Friday, 10/9c (Syfy) – “Bad Blood”

All numbers are “Live + Same Day” and do not account for the inevitable DVR bumps.
Percent changes are from the previous new episode broadcasted.

In its second episode, Sleepy Hollow faced off against hour 2 of The Voice season premiere (14.67 million), as well as the premiere of 2 Broke Girls on CBS (8.76 million). Its DVR viewership lifted it 48 percent to a 4.6 rating in the demo, retaining 92 percent of adults 18 to 49 from its premiere week, according to FOX.

In other words: Sleepy Hollow did a great job retaining its big premiere audience, though a portion of them did switch over from live viewing to DVR.

S.H.I.E.L.D. enjoyed a super-sized bump of 30 percent from DVR-delayed viewing (Live + 3 Days), taking its 4.7 demo rating to a 6.48, and adding 3.7 million viewers (15.8 million total). As expected it’s a huge premiere for the show — here’s hoping that enough viewers liked what they saw to come back this week.

Revolution, on the other hand, started its second season with a rather disappointing opening. While the storytelling seems to be back on track, many viewers have already checked out. Consider this show officially “on the bubble” for renewal; it needs to continue to hold steady in its 18-49 rating if it’s going to make it to a third season.

So far we’re mostly interested in the first-run ratings for new episodes aired in the U.S., so we may not end up tracking repeats. These reports are most valuable to keep tabs on how each individual show is performing relative to itself — i.e. which shows are losing viewers, gaining new fans, or holding steady.

It’s a great year for sci-fi and fantasy on television, and so far our favorite shows are off to a great start. With more premieres to come, we’ll be adding more shows to this list just about every week through the first of November. See you back here next week!

(Via TVBytheNumbers)