CBS’ long-running police procedural, NCIS, has been dethroned as TV’s most-watched show for the first time in half a decade. Premiering in 2003, NCIS was born from the success of JAG. Despite technically being a spinoff, the Navy Yard-based series has long created its own identity, becoming wildly successful. The fact that it has sustained a loyal following for over two decades on the small screen makes its accomplishments more impressive. Unfortunately, NCIS season 21 is met with a setback as it fails to secure its sixth consecutive year as the most-watched series.
In a new report from TV Line, NCIS garnered around 9.7 million weekly viewers. That said, the long-running police procedural is edged out by fellow CBS show, Tracker, which just debuted during the delayed 2023-2024 season. The Justin Hartley-led project had 10.8 million weekly viewers. This marks the first time in five years that NCIS is ending the year not on the top of the most-watched series list.
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The good news is that despite being dethroned, NCIS will move forward with season 22. Not being at the top of the list shouldn’t matter that much to CBS, considering the main show’s consistent showing throughout the years. Proof of how solid the brand is is the arrival of a couple of more spinoffs with characters that are from the Major Case Response Team (MCRT), such as Leroy Jethro Gibbs’ NCIS: Origins, which involves Mark Harmon as a narrator and producer, as well as the upcoming NCIS: Tony & Ziva, with Michael Weatherly and Cote de Pablo.
This doesn’t mean that Tracker isn’t interesting, but it’s important to acknowledge other factors that likely played in its performance.
It’s also worth noting that there was a lot of attention on Tracker for a couple of reasons. For starters, it was its debut year, and it premiered after the Super Bowl. Secondly, Hartley was riding from the success of This Is Us, since it’s his TV comeback following the family drama’s conclusion. This doesn’t mean that Tracker isn’t interesting, but it’s important to acknowledge other factors that likely played into its performance. It would be better to wait for the 2024-2025 TV ratings to see how it ranks among its peers, including NCIS.
In any case, NCIS is different enough from Tracker that CBS can afford to keep both shows in their roster. Granted that they both have weekly cases, but their premises are significantly different. Ultimately, it’s highly unlikely that the network would pull the plug on a show that has proven itself for decades just because it wasn’t able to top the most-watched list for a sixth consecutive year.