Ratings: ‘Agents of SHIELD’ season 2 down with return; NBC’s ‘The Voice’ surges

Tuesday night was a pretty interesting ratings test for most shows, and there was one particular reason for that: CBS was in repeats. Therefore, there were big expectations for some other shows to perform well, and a few of them succeeded with that.

However, at the same time there were disappointments. Despite a great cliffhanger and lesser competition save for “The Voice,” “Agents of SHIELD” mustered only a 1.6 rating in the 18-49 demographic for its first episode of 2015. While this is up from recent “Agent Carter” ratings, it is down from the winter finale. We feel like the show will most likely be renewed (it has good DVR numbers and ABC values their relationship with Marvel), but it probably has higher expectations than other scripted series due to its budget being a little higher than most.

Meanwhile, NBC benefited big from the lack of no “NCIS” or “Person of Interest” on the air. With a 4.1 rating, “The Voice” scored its best Tuesday number (at least in a tie) since October 2013. If it rises in the final numbers, it will be on more of an island. Very good for a singing show in its eighth season, especially with “American Idol” on the decline almost year at this point.

This good fortune also helped “Chicago Fire,” which benefited big from the lead-in on its way to a 2.2. This is the highest number for the show since September, and for some reason it just keeps more of the singing show’s audience than “The Night Shift,” which is proving to be a disappointment coming out of the show Monday. NBC really should have just left “The Blacklist” there, where it was flourishing with better numbers.

We’ll have more ratings updates soon, so be on the lookout for those. For now, just be sure to sign up to score some additional TV updates on all we cover via our CarterMatt Newsletter. (Photo: ABC.)