NCIS: Los Angeles 200th episode draws show’s lowest rating ever

When you think about a show celebrating a milestone episode, the first thing that you want to assume is that it’s going to experience a ratings surge as a result of it. Unfortunately, this was not even remotely true for NCIS: Los Angeles on Sunday as the show ended up generating some of the lowest ratings we’ve had a chance to see to date for the show on CBS.

How low were the numbers in the end? Think along the lines of a 0.7 rating in the 18-49 demographic — the lowest live ratings that we’ve had a chance to see for the show to date in nine seasons. That’s shocking, and you would think that for a milestone episode there would be some more viewers who were interested in checking the show out.

So … what happened? What caused the tumble to be as dramatic as it was for an episode that should’ve seen a gain? There are a few things to cite here.

1. Not enough promotion from CBS of the 200th episode – While ABC went all out in promoting the 300th episode of Grey’s Anatomy, we don’t think there was enough done by the network to court casual viewers into thinking that this episode was special. Granted, NCIS: Los Angeles could have done more in the episode to make it feel special, but that’s something we detail a little bit more in the full review for the episode over at the link here.

2. The Dallas Cowboys vs. the Philadelphia Eagles – If there’s one NFL game you don’t want to air against, it’s probably one that features one of the most famous teams in the entire league. The Cowboys are routinely a monster in the ratings and this past episode ultimately proved to be no exception to the rule. The ratings were pretty dark exceptional on NBC and we have to imagine that it split viewership with what was happening over on CBS.

3. The American Music Awards – While we don’t necessarily think of awards shows as being anywhere near as relevant now as they once were, we’re also not going to look at a 2.4 rating in the demo (which this show generated last night) as something to sneeze at. It was, by and large, a pretty exceptional ratings performance for it.

Unfortunately, we just think that the 200th episode of NCIS: Los Angeles fell opposite a perfect ratings storm. There were definitely some things that the show could’ve done a lot better, but there were also a number of things working against it. It just happened to fall opposite a buzz-saw and there wasn’t all that much that could be done.

What do you think about the NCIS: Los Angeles 200th episode ratings? Be sure to share some of your thoughts on that subject now in the comments!

Also, be sure to head over to the link here in the event you want to preview what is coming up now on the other side of this episode! For more news on this show and some others we cover, like CarterMatt on Facebook! (Photo: CBS.)