Last week, as I do every year, I published a ranker of the 2020-21 TV season’s most-watched series on broadcast and cable — you know, the legacy outlets now referred to in the industry, with a touch of derision, as “linear TV.” No surprise, the ratings continue their downward slope: The most-watched show of the just completed season, CBS’ “NCIS,” averaged 12.7 million viewers; five years ago, “NCIS” was also TV’s most-watched drama, at 20.5 million, and “The Big Bang Theory” was tops overall in entertainment, with 20.6 million.
Yes, it’s a reminder that the way audiences consume TV has greatly changed over the past five years. And yet, that focus on the decline misses something actually pretty impressive: Broadcast shows like “NCIS” (which just finished its 18th season), ABC’s “Grey’s Anatomy” (17 seasons) and NBC’s “Law & Order: Svu” (21 seasons) continue to have massive staying power and tremendous fan bases.
Yes, it’s a reminder that the way audiences consume TV has greatly changed over the past five years. And yet, that focus on the decline misses something actually pretty impressive: Broadcast shows like “NCIS” (which just finished its 18th season), ABC’s “Grey’s Anatomy” (17 seasons) and NBC’s “Law & Order: Svu” (21 seasons) continue to have massive staying power and tremendous fan bases.
- 6/4/2021
- by Michael Schneider
- Variety Film + TV
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