Fall TV Showdowns: NCIS: Los Angeles vs. The Walking Dead

Who is going to emerge victorious in the fall, NCIS: Los Angeles season 8 or The Walking Dead season 8? For the first time, both are sharing the same timeslot thanks to the crime drama moving back an hour, and throughout the month of June, one of the focuses here at CarterMatt is going to be focusing on some timeslot showdowns, and whether or not they help or hurt certain shows on the air.

With this one, you are looking at an especially interesting battle given that you have two shows that may have somewhat of a crossover audience, but in the case of NCIS: Los Angeles, it’s also a show that has some other challenges that it’s facing across the board.

Impact on The Walking Dead – While NCIS: Los Angeles does have a pretty robust pool of viewers, there is one thing working in the zombie drama’s favor: Immediacy. This is the sort of show you have to watch NOW because of the whole “anyone can die” mantra at the center of it. If you miss the show even for just one week, you run the risk of something huge being spoiled.

If you think about the competition The Walking Dead routinely faces, which included both NFL football and Westworld this past fall, it’s easy to think that it can withstand Sam Hanna and G. Callen on a weekly basis.

Impact on NCIS: Los Angeles – This new timeslot is going to be a big challenge for the show, and competing against The Walking Dead is just one piece of the pie. It’s airing after a new show whose title is so terrible in Wisdom of the Crowd, it had to be looked up on this end in order for it to be even remembered. Also, it’s got the misfortune of being subject to all sorts of NFL delays without the direct lead-in from it and 60 Minutes that it once had. While ratings for the show stayed fairly even year-to-year for season 8, expect a decline in at least 10% (if not more) for season 9 when you consider the variables.

Final verdict – Of the new timeslot shows coming this fall, The Walking Dead is the clear winner here in that AMC executives probably aren’t even thinking about it. That’s easy to do when you’re sitting at the top.

What The Walking Dead needs to worry about more than anything else is The Walking Dead, given that it had some meandering episodes over season 7 that failed to accomplish all that much.

What are you watching this fall: The Walking Dead or NCIS: Los Angeles? Feel free to share in the poll below! (Photo: CBS.)