The numbers are in for the 2023-24 broadcast-TV season, and this year was — as always and forever — a touchdown for football fare.
NBC’s Sunday Night Football ranked No. 1 for the season — and was in fact up 9% year-over-year — with an average audience of 19.8 million total viewers (including Live+7 playback data). ABC’s Monday Night Football placed a distant second, with 11.7 million weekly viewers.
The TV season’s most-watched scripted show was CBS’ freshman hit, Tracker, which enjoyed a post-Super Bowl debut and went on to average nearly 11 million weekly viewers.
IN THE 18-49 DEMO, Sunday Night Football as usual dominated, up 6% from last year with a 5.19 rating, followed by Monday Night Football (2.45), ABC’s NBA Saturday Primetime (1.1) and then CBS’ Survivor (1.06).
Of the Top 20 non-sports entertainment programs, CBS boasted eight, ABC followed close with 7, NBC had four, and Fox claimed one (the USA Network-bound Friday Night SmackDown).
IN TOTAL VIEWERS, the aforementioned Tracker (with 10.8 million weekly viewers) kept CBS’ NCIS (9.7 mil, -2% YOY) out of the top spot for the first time in five years. CBS’ Young Sheldon, with its swan song, five-peated as TV’s most-watched comedy (with a steady 9.3 million viewers).
All told, CBS delivered a whopping 13 (!) of the Top 20 most-watched non-sports entertainment programs (including the cancelled NCIS: Hawai’i, which ranked No. 12), followed by NBC (with five) and ABC (two).
Listed below are my hand-curated rankings for the broadcast networks’ assorted offerings; last season’s can be found here. Hit Comments to share what delights or depresses you.
1. Young Sheldon, CBS (9.3 million; ended)
2. Ghosts, CBS (8.2 million)
3. The Neighborhood, CBS (5.7 million)
4. Bob Hearts Abishola, CBS (5.3 million; ended)
5. The Conners, ABC (4.1 million; heading into final season)
TOP-RATED RETURNING COMEDY (18-49 DEMO):
Young Sheldon (0.75 rating)
1. Extended Family, NBC (3.3 million; cancelled)
2. Ghosts UK, CBS (acquired) (3 million)
3. Krapopolis, Fox (1.2 million)
TOP-RATED NEW COMEDY (18-49 DEMO):
Extended Family (0.39 rating; still cancelled)
1. NCIS, CBS (9.7 million viewers)
2. FBI, CBS (8.8 million)
3. Chicago Fire, NBC (8.6 million)
4. Blue Bloods, CBS (8.4 million; first half of final season)
5. Chicago Med, NBC (8 million)
6. The Equalizer, CBS (7.9 million)
7. Chicago P.D., NBC (7.82 million)
8. NCIS: Hawai’i (7.79 million; cancelled)
9. Fire Country, CBS (7.3 million)
10. FBI: Most Wanted, CBS (7.2 million)
TOP-RATED RETURNING DRAMA (18-49 demo):
Law & Order: SVU, NBC (0.83)
1. Tracker, CBS (10.8 million)
2. Elsbeth, CBS (7.4 million)
3. NCIS: Sydney, CBS (6.5 million)
4. The Irrational, NBC (5.9 million)
5. Found, NBC (5 million)
TOP-RATED NEW DRAMA (18-49 DEMO):
Tracker, CBS (0.8 rating)
1. Survivor, CBS (6.4 million)
2. The Golden Bachelor, ABC (6 million)
3. Dancing With the Stars, ABC (5.94 million)
4. American Idol, ABC (5.6 million)
5. Jeopardy! Masters, ABC (5 million)
TOP-RATED UNSCRIPTED SHOW (18-49 demo):
Survivor, CBS (1.06 rating)
1. Blue Bloods, CBS (8.4 million for first half of final season)
2. NCIS: Hawai’i, CBS (7.8 million)
3. So Help Me Todd, CBS (6.2 million)
4. CSI: Vegas, CBS (6.1 million)
5. The Good Doctor, ABC (5 million)
TOP-RATED CANCELLED SHOW (18-49 DEMO):
Blue Bloods, CBS (0.54)
(Law & Order: Organized Crime, which had a 0.61 rating, is moving from NBC to Peacock)
1. The Great North, Fox (576,000)
2. Krapopolis, Fox (1.23 million; was renewed way back in October 2022)
3. Bob’s Burgers, Fox (1.35 million)
4. Family Guy, Fox (1.44 million)
5. The Simpsons, Fox (2 million)
6. The Cleaning Lady, Fox (2 million)
7. Animal Control, Fox (2.1 million)
8. Lopez vs. Lopez, NBC (2.3 million)
9. Alert: MPU, Fox (2.5 million)
10. Night Court, NBC (3.9 million)
1. Sunday Night Football, NBC (19.8 million, +9% year-over-year)
2. Monday Night Football, ABC (11.7 million, N/A YOY)
3. Tracker, CBS (10.8 million, new)
4. NCIS, CBS (9.7 million, -2%)
5. Young Sheldon, CBS (9.3 million, steady)
6. FBI, CBS (8.8 million, -8%)
7. Chicago Fire, NBC (8.6 million, -8%)
8. Blue Bloods, CBS (8.4 million, -11%)
9. 60 Minutes, CBS (8.3 million, -6%)
10. Ghosts, CBS (8.2 million, -10%)
DROPPED OUT OF LAST YEAR’S TOP 10
Chicago Med, The Equalizer
1. Sunday Night Football, NBC (5.19 demo rating, +6% year-over-year)
2. Monday Night Football, ABC (2.45, N/A YOY)
3. NBA Saturday Primetime, ABC (1.1, N/A YOY)
4. Survivor, CBS (1.06, steady)
5. Saturday Night Football, ABC (1.02, +13%)
6. Law & Order: SVU, NBC (0.83, -8%)
7. Chicago P.D., NBC (0.82, -18%)
7 (tie). 9-1-1, ABC (0.82, -18%)
7 (tie). The Bachelor, ABC (0.82, N/A YOY)
8. The Golden Bachelor, ABC (0.80, new)
8 (tie). Tracker, CBS (0.80, new)
DROPPED OUT OF LAST YEAR’S TOP… 14 (with ties)
Chicago Fire, American Idol, Ghosts, Young Sheldon, 60 Minutes, The Masked Singer, Next Level Chef and Chicago Med
Want SCOOP on any of the above? Email InsideLine@tvline.com and your question may be answered via Matt’s Inside Line!
Once again, the numbers are proof that CBS’s Amy Reisenbach has no legitimate excuse for cancelling NCIS: Hawaii. The cost thing is a cover-up for the lies.
Once she greenlit Origins, she was going to give that time slot to Mark Harmon even after Hawaii did high numbers. NCIS: Hawaii was the only drama in the Top 15 that did not lose viewers from the previous year.
You’re right; a network refusing to pay millions of dollars to renew a show is a terrible cover up lol
The producers agreed to every budget cut the network asked for. The show did not lose money and was one season away from syndication. Vanessa Lachey also did every promotion for NCIS’s 1000 episode celebration, while Mark Harmon didn’t do jack-squat.
Don’t let those facts escape your fake username brain. The claims about money were bull. It was an excuse to give away the time slot to Origins.
Nor for cancelling So Help Me Todd!
It did almost as well as elsbeth which got renewed. I was so upset with that cancelation.
Why would anyone cancel this show?
👏👏👏👏
Poor So Help Me Todd. On any other network it would’ve been an automatic renewal. 😞
CBS just had a bloated slate for 23-24… that said Todd should of been moved to paramount + to see help them boost subscribers (possibly Ncis Hawaii as well as both shows were still getting viewership)
Imagine what they must have paid Kathy Bates to talk her into a Matlock reboot,had to come from somewhere.
Why would they cancel Extended Family if it got a 3.3 rating? It did better than Ghosts! Will the network change their mind now?
Not a “3.3 rating”; 3.3 million viewers.
I can’t imagine what appeal they think this show will have. I can watch reruns of the real Matlock on cable instead of some show just trying to use the name to attract older viewers. I like Kathy Bates in movies, but she already had a show where she was a lawyer, “Harry’s Law”, and it only lasted one season. I would rather see that time slot taken by one of the existing shows that was well liked and didn’t deserve to be cancelled. I actually do watch Elsbeth though and I really like it.
I can’t see what is the allure for Tracker. That show is just a ripped off version of Found!
It’s nothing like Found 😂
Colter doesn’t have someone tied up in his basement
You definitely didn’t watch tracker. They literally have nothing in common? Their origins stories are different (kidnapped vs obsessive/ a bit mental dead father). Found searches for victims in 1 city and tracker is all over the country. Found don’t get paid for their work, tracker does and so so so many more differences…
I still can’t believe they canceled So Help Me Todd. Such a bad decision. That was a fantastic show with a stellar cast. I miss it already.
Completely agree!!!! Beyond disappointed. CBS failed that show and so many others in so many ways. And fail to be responsive to their viewership
Bring back Blue Bloods!!
Yes!!! And “East New York.”
Will definitely miss Todd. It was must see tv for me.
CBS cancelation of NCIS Hawaii along with Blue Bloods exemplifies how wrong they are. They’re ignoring the stats of their popularity. They don’t care what the the audience prefers . They have their own agenda which is so wrong. Blue Bloods has been a fixture for decades. Why They’re canceling it or Hawaii makes no sense.
No, no, no. Amy Reisenbach said that CBS has to keep their lineup fresh. Which explains why they will air reboots of Agent Gibbs and Matlock instead of popular shows like Blue Bloods and NCIS: Hawaii.
After all, what’s more fresh than Matlock and Gibbs?
So, SHMT had 6.2 million viewers, beat out the Neighborhood, Bob’s Heart & the Connors and still got cancelled. How sad, that the network doesn’t like to keep their viewers happy. So much for comedy!
Why would they cancel Extended Family if it got a 3.3 rating? It did better than Ghosts! Will the network change their mind now?
They are on two different networks. Extended Family only had 3.3 million viewers, as compared to the UK Ghosts’ 3 million. US Ghosts had 8.2 million viewers.
These figures just show more and more lthe utter madness in cancelling Blue Bloods
Don’t get how people like Tracker , acting is sub par & the writing is even worse
It fits a certain demographic that likes shows like this, or say, Blue Bloods.
Sad, what CBS is doing It has cancelled solid performing shows and left shows with no where near the appeal of those they cancelled I hope it will sow in the ratings next year
So after reading through all this, someone please explain to me why NCIS Hawaii was canceled? Seems like a bad decision to me.
The “official reason” that CBS Entertainment President Amy Reisenbach gave was that shooting in Hawaii was too expensive, and they wanted to keep their schedule “fresh.” (which is a bad joke since they are rebooting Gibbs and Matlock)
The unofficial reason that she will never admit to is that once they greenlit NCIS: Origins (co-produced by Mark Harmon, who will narrate like Jim Parsons did for Young Sheldon), they planned on giving Hawaii’s time slot after the original NCIS to Origins.
NCIS: Hawaii could have done Tracker-like ratings, and Amy Reisenbach still would have scheduled Origins on Monday’s at 10 PM Eastern for Mark Harmon.
Believe me, had Hawaii been doing Tracker-like numbers, or even numbers close to the original NCIS, it would not have been cancelled.
I don’t get the anger towards Origins – it was in no way responsible for Hawaii’s cancellation. If it had been CBS’ intention all along to cancel Hawaii, then the show would have been told long before it was announced at the 11th hour in April. It seems obvious to me that Hawaii was going to be the replacement for SWAT on Friday, but SONY made CBS an offer they couldn’t refuse, and instead of SWAT ending as planned, the network (which has real financial issues along with it’s parent corp Paramount – that’s another story), decided at the last minute to cancel. And there is no longer a guaranteed syndication market, so the network is out of luck there. So be angry that Hawaii was cancelled because of the conflagration of some really bad circumstances, but don’t be mad because another show is airing. If you’re not interested in the other show just don’t watch, but it still won’t be that show’s fault your show was cancelled.
Correct, Origins was ordered to series Jan 5, a month+ before NCIS Hawaii S3 even debuted. And Hawaii was heavily involved in the NCIS franchise episode 1,000 promotion thru mid-April, it clearly wasn’t being hung out to dry.
Sorry, Matt, but you are wrong. NCIS: Hawai’i was hung out to dry. Ordering Origins to series a month before the Season 3 premiere of Hawai’i just proves the plan was in motion to cancel Hawai’i long before April 26. They just waited to keep the fans watching and talking about it on social media and comment sections of articles about it being “on the bubble”. They used the cast, fans, and you, and other media, to constantly talk about it and freely promote it.
Vanessa Lachey, especially, was hung out to dry when they used her to promote that 1,000 episodes nonsense. She was on three talk/entertainment shows in LA in one day (in the middle of filming) and did countless video and print media.
Please, do some research and “discover” that NCIS: Hawai’i was actually making a profit for CBS/Paramount. The cost of a 30-second ad during NCIS: Hawai’i increased 6% between Season 1 and 2. Meanwhile, a 30-second ad, during the same time-frame for the original NCIS went down 4%. And, CBS executives have commented in the past how profitable NCIS: Hawai’i was in international distribution (specifically because of the location) and streaming.
NCIS: Origins is replacing NCIS: Hawai’i because CBS skews older and they think a tired Gibbs backstory, that has been told for over 20 years in flashbacks, will placate them. In recent years, CBS has been trying to downplay the 18-49 demo to advertisers because that is not their audience. It hasn’t been for years.
Period.
#SaveNCISHawaii
Matt,
Unless I missed something, The Rookie isn’t on any of these lists.
Correct.
FOX is a disaster! They’ve gotten rid of 9-1-1 and WWE the last 2 seasons.
:
CSI: Vegas and NCIS: Honolulu deserve better….
Kudos to new drama Tracker being the highest rated scripted program in viewers. And how wild is it to see 25 year old Law and Order SVU as the highest scripted show in the all important 18-49 demo.
A channel running cancelled CBS shows will do better than FOX lol
And still no streaming service has stepped up to keep “Blue Bloods” going. It’s very sad, especially as most of their own series end up running only one or two seasons.
I’m boycotting CBS/Paramount+ for cancelling NCIS:Hawaii. To hell with them. idiots and liars.
So remind why NCIS Hawaii was canceled again?
Probably the location made it less cost-effective to make. Hawaii isn’t cheap. Also, CBS had a surplus of programs on their schedule. It wasn’t about ratings with other networks. They were looking at the ratings versus their own shows and the cost of production.
I know that money plays a huge role in renewals these days, but it doesn’t lessen the sting of shows I watch get canceled. 🙄🤦♀️😡
Thought for sure SVU would be in the top 10 returning dramas for viewers.
CBS could afford to shoot Hawaii 5-0 there for several seasons.
It was not about costs. It was about promising their time slot to Mark Harmon and NCIS: Origins–a show they greenlit without so much as a pilot being filmed.
CBS has had a studio and presence in Hawaii since “Gilligan’s Island,” followed by “Hawaii 5-0,” and its second version and “Magnum P.I.” The cancellation is not about cost!
I refuse to warch Treacker. anytime producers pull a beefcake ( man with no shirt to show off muscles) to pulll females in I am insulted. amd here is the irony. In This. is us. his characer walkd off his TV show for just that reason. taking off his shirt to gain viewers
Save So Help Me Todd!!
CSI Vegas and NCIS Hawaii deserve another season!
It’s too bad they can’t move them to Fox. Since Fox moved 9-1-1 to ABC, the only things on Fox I watch are shows like Masked Singer, Don’t Forget the Lyrics, I Can See Your Voice and the Gordon Ramsey cooking shows. Not much else to see. I don’t watch any of the scripted dramas they air.