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Falling on ABC’s ‘SHIELD': Marvel Drama Dropped by Double Digits With Each Passing Season

Come back with your shield — or on it, the Spartan saying goes. ABC’s “Marvel’s Agents of SHIELD,” which started with great ratings promise seven seasons ago, managed to do both with its series finale on Wednesday. The ABC drama, which exists in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, got off to a heroic Nielsen start back in 2013. Since then, the show has declined by double digits on a percentage basis each season in terms of both TV ratings and audience size, before ultimately limping across the finish line this summer. In the end, which arguably came one or two seasons too late, “SHIELD” averaged Nielsen ratings that placed it in the company of other lackluster performers, like fellow current ABC series “What Would You Do?” and the network’s recently wrapped “The Genetic Detective.” Those two are both unscripted shows, which are considerably cheaper to produce. (The much-anticipated, effects-heavy pilot for “SHIELD” cost an eye-popping $12 million, the New York Times reported at the time.) Also Read: Univision's Cool, Cool Summer: How Network Has Obliterated Ratings Trends For a direct scripted-drama comparison, summer reruns of NBC’s “Chicago” shows having been averaging the same rating among adults 18-49, which is the age...

Read original story Falling on ABC’s ‘SHIELD': Marvel Drama Dropped by Double Digits With Each Passing Season At TheWrap