‘NCIS: Sydney’ Scores Fall’s Highest Broadcast Series Premiere Viewership With 5.6 Million Viewers

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CBS’ “NCIS: Sydney” scored the highest premiere viewership for a broadcast show premiering this fall.

As “NCIS” fans tuned in to the franchise’s first international edition, the Nov. 14 premiere drew in 5.64 million total viewers and scored a 0.34 rating in the key broadcast demographic among adults 18-49 during its 8 p.m. airing, according to Nielsen live-plus-same-day viewing figures.

Total viewership for “NCIS: Sydney” exceeded the series premieres of ABC’s “The Golden Bachelor,” which courted 4.36 million viewers during its series premiere on Sept. 28, NBC’s “The Irrational,” which debuted to an audience of 3.81 million people on Sept. 25, and Fox’s “Krapopolis,” which scored 3.6 million total viewers as it premiered on Sept. 24.

The debut of “NCIS: Sydney” also drew in the highest viewership of the night among primetime broadcast programming, and was up 99% from last week’s Tuesday airing of “Big Brother” in the same timeslot, which drew in 2.83 million viewers.

While the strong viewership differentiated “NCIS: Sydney” from its new series competitors across the major broadcasters, its 0.34 rating in the demo was nearly doubled by the 0.64 rating earned by ABC’s “Dancing With the Stars” during its 8 p.m. to 10 p.m. airing, which subsequently secured the night’s highest rating.

For comparison, ratings for the series premiere of “NCIS: Sydney” were on par with the series premiere of “The Irrational,” as both programs tied with a 0.34 rating. “Krapopolis” secured a whopping 1.2 demo rating, which was boosted by its NFL doubleheader lead-in, while “The Golden Bachelor” scored a 0.62 rating on premiere night.

Still, “NCIS: Sydney” secured CBS’ highest rating on Tuesday night, beating the 0.15 rating brought in by a CBS News special showcasing unseen parts of an interview between Gayle King and Jay-Z at 9 p.m., as well as the 0.12 rating landed by “FBI: True” at 10 p.m. In its 8 p.m. timeslot, ratings for “NCIS: Sydney” beat Fox’s “Name That Tune,” which scored a 0.24 rating, and the CW’s “Inside the NFL,” which brought in a 0.08 rating.

“NCIS: Sydney” is a Paramount+ spin-off initially planned to launch exclusively on Paramount+ and Network 10, but was added to CBS’ fall lineup due to the lasting impacts of the Hollywood double strike this summer.

The cast of “NCIS: Sydney” is led by Olivia Swann and Todd Lasance, who star as NCIS Special Agent Michelle Mackey and her 2IC AFP counterpart, Sergeant Jim “JD” Dempsey, respectively. The cast is rounded out by Sean Sagar, Tuuli Narkle, Mavournee Hazel and William McInnes.

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