Captain America Fails To Save Marvel's Agents Of S.H.I.E.L.D., Show Hits All-Time Ratings Low

TVByTheNumbers.com reports that last nights episode of Marvel's Agents Of S.H.I.E.L.D. had a disappointing performance in the ratings department despite being heavily promoted by ABC/Marvel, and having a major tie-in with Marvel's latest hit movie Captain America: The Winter Soldier which domestically brought in around $96.2 million dollars for its opening weekend.

According to the report the show hit a new series low with a 1.7 down three tenths from last week's 2.0 adults 18-49 rating.

The show which stars Clark Gregg as Agent Phil Coulson is still in its first season, and though it got off to a pretty slow start story wise, in recent weeks has had things pick up as they have brought in more established Marvel characters and stars such as Deathlok (J. August Richards), Lady Sif (Jamie Alexander) from Thor: The Dark World and Agent Garrett who is played by Bill Paxton. The show starting with last week's episode titled “End of the Beginning” began a story arc that ties-in directly with Marvel's big-screen Captain America movie, something that has never really been done before, and yet the ratings continue to drop. Could the movie-tie in be having a negative effect on viewership? After-all last night's episode 'Turn, Turn, Turn' did contain major spoilers for the Captain America: The Winter Soldier movie. Perhaps folks who have yet to see the movie decided to stay away from last nights episode? Or maybe it's just a case of too little too late. The slow start at the beginning of the season seemed to turn many hardcore comic fans away, so perhaps not even a movie tie-in is enough to bring folks back to the fold?

It would be a shame to see the series come to an end just as things seem to be getting exciting but only time will tell if the final days of S.H.I.E.L.D. are truly near.