Ratings Debate: Is ‘NCIS: Los Angeles’ season 6 starting to sink?
It was really not that long ago when “NCIS: Los Angeles” was considered to be one of the more stable, solid hits on network TV. Then, CBS decided that it would be a good move to move it to Monday nights. It was thrown into competition with “Castle” and “The Blacklist,” two shows who already have formidable audiences during that time period in the fall. Did you really expect its numbers to stay anywhere close to what they were?
The show has dropped throughout the season, and Monday night, it drew a series-low rating of 1.4 for a new episode. Story-wise, there’s not a whole lot you can blame the show for. Kensi and Deeks are finally together, and many of the missions feel very much similar to what they were seasons ago. So what’s happened? It may just be a classic case of viewer erosion more so than anything else, coupled with the new timeslot. It is hard to get viewers to respond to change, especially in the event that you’ve had a few years in a row of the same thing.
The case to keep it – This show is in syndication, is popular around the world, and compared to some of the other struggling CBS shows out there, it is still faring pretty well. Also, we suspect that the network already extended the contracts of their main cast members to seven seasons, meaning that there is no real danger of losing anyone, at least not at the moment.
Also, this is the “NCIS” brand in general we are talking about here. If you do cancel one version of the show, then it starts to become even more apparent that there are other versions of the show that could be ready to depart, as well.
The case to cancel it – No matter how you slice it, a 1.4 rating in the demo is not good, even if the show does tend to typically to draw slightly better ratings than this. Maybe it is not worth the price tag anymore, or CBS is plotting to remake a big chunk of their programming to appeal to the tastes of the younger viewers out there.
Verdict – We cannot make too big of a case to cancel the show, since there is no reason to do so! We feel like “Blue Bloods,” “Hawaii Five-0,” “Elementary,” “Stalker,” “CSI,” “Battle Creek,” “The Amazing Race,” and “Person of Interest” could all be looked at for cancellation before this one. It fares okay against the competition, and overall it has improved the network’s performance in the timeslot slightly from that disaster last year.
What do you want to see happen with “NCIS: Los Angeles”? Share in the poll below, and head over here to get some other updates! Also, you can sign up to get some other news on all we cover via our CarterMatt Newsletter. (Photo: CBS.)