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There are at least 21.8 million people out there who watch NCIS on a weekly basis, and they all live in Wyoming? Florida? Some state between North and South Dakota? Seriously, who are these people? I’ve never met one (note: I never met my grandparents). I asked Yahoo! Answers, “Why is NCIS so popular?” and received an unsatisfactory response: “I’ve never seen it.” And yet, the most JAG of CBS’ current programming is the only series on TV more popular than Sunday Night Football, finishing at the top of the 10 most-watched shows of the fall.
1. NCIS (CBS), 21.8
2. Sunday Night Football (NBC), 21.4
3. The Big Bang Theory (CBS), 21.2
4. NCIS: LA (CBS), 16.8 16835
5. The Blacklist (NBC), 16.5
6. Person of Interest (CBS), 15.9
7. NFL Sunday Night Football Kickoff (NBC), 15.5
8. Dancing with the Stars (ABC), 15
9. The OT (Fox), 14.8
10. The Voice (NBC), 14.8
NCIS truly is our Seinfeld. Anyway, out of curiosity, I rounded up the 10 most popular TV shows for every season since 1993-1994, because we don’t talk about the cultural clusterf*ck that was Joe Millionaire nearly enough.
1993-1994 (screenshot via)
1994-1995
1995-1996
1996-1997
1997-1998
1998-1999
1999-2000
1. Who Wants to Be a Millionaire? (Tuesday)
2. Who Wants to Be a Millionaire? (Thursday)
3. Who Wants to Be a Millionaire? (Sunday)
4. ER
5. Friends
6. Monday Night Football
7. Frasier
8. 60 Minutes
9. The Practice
10. Touched by an Angel
2000-2001
1. Survivor
2. ER
3. Who Wants to Be a Millionaire? (Wednesday)
4. Who Wants to Be a Millionaire? (Tuesday)
5. Friends
6. Monday Night Football
7. Law and Order
8. Everybody Loves Raymond
9. Who Wants to Be a Millionaire? (Sunday)
10. The Practice
2001-2002
1. Friends
2. CSI
3. E.R.
4. Everybody Loves Raymond
5. Law and Order
6. Survivor
7. The West Wing
8. Monday Night Football
9. Will and Grace
10. Leap of Faith
2002-2003
1. CSI
2. Joe Millionaire
3. American Idol (Wednesday)
4. Friends
5. American Idol (Tuesday)
6. Survivor: Thailand
7. E.R.
8. Survivor: Amazon
9. Everybody Loves Raymond
10. Law and Order
2003-2004
1.American Idol
2. CSI
3. Survivor
4. The Apprentice
5. Friends
6. Monday Night Football
7. My Big Fat Obnoxious Fiancé
8. CSI: Miami
9. ER
10. Everybody Loves Raymond
2004-2005
1. American Idol
2. CSI
3. Survivor
4. Desperate Housewives
5. CSI: Miami
6. Dancing with the Stars
7. Monday Night Football
8. Without a Trace
9. Everybody Loves Raymond
10. Two and a Half Men
2005-2006
1. American Idol
2. CSI
3. Survivor
4. Desperate Housewives
5. Dancing with the Stars
6. CSI: Miami
7. Without a Trace
8. Monday Night Football
9. Grey’s Anatomy
10. House, M.D.
2006-2007
1. American Idol
2. Dancing with the Stars
3. CSI
4. Sunday Night Football
5. Survivor
6. Grey’s Anatomy
7. Lost
8. House, M.D.
9. Without a Trace
10. CSI: Miami
2007-2008
1. American Idol
2. Dancing with the Stars
3. Sunday Night Football
4. Survivor
5. CSI
6. Lost
7. House, M.D.
8. Heroes
9. NCIS
10. America’s Got Talent
2008-2009
1. American Idol (Wednesday)
2. American Idol (Tuesday)
3. Dancing With the Stars
4. CSI
5. NCIS
6. The Mentalist
7. Dancing With the Stars (Results)
8. Sunday Night Football
9. Desperate Housewives
10. Two and a Half Men
2009-2010
1. American Idol (Tuesday)
2. American Idol (Wednesday)
3. Dancing with the Stars
4. Sunday Night Football
5. NCIS
6. Undercover Boss
7. The Mentalist
8. CSI
9. NCIS: LA
10. Dancing with the Stars (Results)
2010-2011
1. American Idol (Wednesday)
2. American Idol (Thursday)
3. Dancing with the Stars
4. Sunday Night Football
5. NCIS
6. Dancing with the Stars (Results)
7. NCIS: Los Angeles
8. The Mentalist
9. Criminal Minds
10. CSI
2011-2012
1. Sunday Night Football
2. American Idol (Wednesday)
3. NCIS
4. American Idol (Thursday)
5. Dancing with the Stars
6. Dancing with the Stars (Results)
7. NCIS: Los Angeles
8. The Big Bang Theory
9. The Voice
10. Two and a Half Men
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I think the popularity of NCIS is all the proof we need that wizards exist.
Sweet Jesus, the decline of Western Civilization through television ratings. Look how fast 60 Minutes went down. Say what you will, it’s info-tainement, but at least it’s educational television.
My parents watch NCIS. They’re late 50s/early 60s, the kind of people who have digital cable and an HDTV but occasionally forget to look for the HD channel up in the 700s.
Those are the people watching primetime network TV. They don’t have a DVR, they don’t really watch anything else other than sports, Food Network and HGTV.
My mom doesn’t have a DVR & we are getting her a Roku & Netflix for Christmas. It’ll either be a complete waste of money, or we’ll never hear from her again as she gets knee deep in Golden Girl episodes.
Boy, we as ‘Merica had some terrible taste. Still do.
So, the top spots were mostly occupied by terrible shows, and still are.
Yeah, if the point of this article was to show we used to have better taste in TV, I’m not really seeing it.
90’s ER was good shit.
Yeah, I didnt like it, but I was in my teens. Not my target demo. I can understand that it was a great show.
I was referring to crap like Grace Under Fire, Suddenly Susan, Single Guy (which I though was funny, but probably sucked), Caroline in the City and Veronicas Closet (HOLY FUCK THOSE WERE AWFUL).
ER was awesome, but some of those mid to late 90s NBC sitcoms were fucking dreadful.
The top 10 for 96-97 must make NBC execs weep for the good old days;
“2012-2013 ratings via EW”
To see where the 2012-2013 shows’ ratings went in comparison with the 1993-1994 shows’ ratings made me say “EW.”
Well you learn something new every day.
I had no idea that Seinfeld aired on CBS in 1997-98.
That show was nothing if not versatile.
It was the best show on every network.
I have more great shows than I have time to watch them in, and this hasn’t changed in years.
In 1993, I watched 2, maybe 3 of those top 10 shows, and spent the rest of the time surfing for something worthwhile.
I’ll take modern television, thank you.
how viewing has changed: 1993 — i regularly watched 8 of the 10. 2013 only one of them.
Truth
Person of Interest, what what!
“First she got fired, then she got Fired Up!”
Even the catchphrase is more memorable than the show. Which I don’t remember.
I love that timeslot hits Suddenly Susan and Veronica’s closet actually garnered more viewers than the Friends half of the Seinfeld sandwich.
I remember Veronica’s Closet, (in french : Les Dessous de Veronica which can loosely translate as Veronica’s Underwear) (though “dessous” means ‘secrets’)
But what was the one with Tea Leoni?
Those two + The Single Guy were the most surprising to me, especially since all 3 only lasted a few seasons if I remember correctly.
Tea Leoni show: The Naked Truth
The list in 2013 means a lot less than in 1993, doesn’t it? I know that I don’t watch shows on TV anymore. Streaming services changed the game.
Friends and Seinfeld prevented tragedy. As soon as they left the air, the dark times started.
My mom watches NCIS. She’s a 50 year old devout Southern Baptist in Missouri. That’s who watches that show. And unfortunately, there’s TONS of these people.
If it upsets you that NCIS is at the top of this list, take comfort in knowing that it will probably be surpassed next yeat by NCIS: New Orleans.
Simply dig deeper to the median age of the most popular shows. NCIS is 60 years old. Ever wonder about big bang theory? Nearly 50. This blog is populated with 18-35 year olds. That is why these rankings are so strange.
It’s also because of USA Network’s usage of the syndication rights. It’s always on, so it’s perfect for a lazy afternoon or as background noise while you do something else. After a while, you begin to actually like it. Then you watch it first-run when USA starts to repeat itself. USA did the exact same thing to me with the Law & Order trilogy.
In 93-93, generic CBS Sunday night movie was the 10th highest rated program. While the top shows may have been better, there clearly wasn’t much depth behind them.
NCIS is actually a pretty good show…that I only watch in reruns on USA Network when I come across it by accident while I’m flipping channels.
99-00 — I had forgotten just how popular “who wants to be a millionaire” was. What garbage.
I call shenanigans Buffy, Angel, Smallville Supernatural, none of those shows are even mentioned…………wait I wasn’t a 13yr old girl in the 90’s …………MADHOUSE!!!!!
I’m 50 and me and my teen age kids all love NCIS. It’s a great show the characters are well written and it’s fun to watch.
You don’t have kids.