‘NCIS: Los Angeles’ season 8 in the midst of a ratings renaissance

There’s a lot of time in the media that is devoted to depression, and the same can be true even in television. There’s a frequent amount of discussion about declining ratings, cancellations, cast turmoil, and other things plaguing various shows.

Shouldn’t we also acknowledge when things are going really great? We think so, which is why we’re so pleased to talk for a minute about “NCIS: Los Angeles,” one of the biggest success stories of the entire 2016-17 season so far. It feels odd to say that about a show in its eighth season and one that, even without huge increases, probably would’ve been back for a ninth. The latest news out there does just seemingly make that all the more assured.

The first thing that we should do in kicking off such a discussion on the series is looking for a moment at some of the raw live+same day ratings data.

Season 8 ratings averages so far – 1.5 rating in the 18-49 demographic, 10.75 million viewers.

Season 7 ratings – 1.3 rating in the demo, 8.6 million viewers.

Percentage increase – 11% in the demo, almost 25% in total viewers.

This increase is no joke — sometimes, you see ratings go up a little bit and you can excuse them away just by point to one little thing or another that is helping them nudge up in the numbers. You cannot do that here. This is one of the most noticeable ratings improvements of the season, and it’s helped to make “NCIS: Los Angeles” the #2 drama series on CBS. The demo is tied with “Criminal Minds” for the spot, and it’s surpassing it in total viewers. The only drama series consistently faring better is of course the flagship “NCIS.”

So what should you attribute this to? You have to start with the friendlier timeslot. Mondays at 10:00 p.m. Eastern is becoming more and more challenging for network shows; the ratings of “Scorpion” so far this season are further proof of that. In moving “NCIS: Los Angeles” away from that craziness, what you’re doing is that you’re allowing it a chance to come on after “60 Minutes,” which is often inflated due to NFL lead-ins. It’s the perfect show for that night since it’s largely procedural, and people who’ve missed an episode or two can dive in and still enjoy what’s going on. It’s a natural fit for the NFL crowd, and you get a good sense of that in that both the demo and viewers are up versus the 8:00 p.m. Sunday timeslot for CBS one year ago.

Also, consider the story – The serialized elements that the show introduced this season are tonight really strong, in particular the way in which they’ve handled Daniela Ruah’s maternity leave by giving Kensi a story all about recovery. She’s have to rebuild herself physically in the aftermath of what happened, but also psychologically. It’s a journey that has been perfectly paced; we’d be a little more concerned about not getting enough of her and Deeks were the ratings a little lower, or if it was a little less obvious that eventually they’re going to have the moments that so many fans want to see. As it is, no cause for concern

Also, the quest for the mole is proving itself to be a really solid mystery where there are several suspects — based on what we’ve seen for Sunday’s episode so far (check out the sneak peeks below), real consequences are also coming for the team. The writers are making the threats matter, rather than just introducing some mustache-twirling evildoer for an episode or two only to completely forget about them the moment that they are going.

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All in all, now’s a great time to be an “NCIS: Los Angeles” fan, and if you’ve missed the show for much of the past few months, now really is the time to catch up! Good stuff appears to be on the horizon.

What do you think about the show’s recent surge in ratings? Share in the comments, and be sure to check back tomorrow night for a full review of all that transpires. (Photo: CBS.)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZFC3CvLT1H4

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x_0-4L_o7uI