The opposite of an overnight success, Mark Harmon's military crime-solving drama "NCIS" has ascended to the position of television's most popular scripted show in its seventh season on the air.
Both weeks of this new TV season, it was the most-watched program, according to the Nielsen Co. Last week's audience of 21.4 million viewers was its largest ever.
"NCIS" has even given its new spinoff, "NCIS: Los Angeles," a running start. The new series, with Chris O'Donnell and LL Cool J, follows the mother ship and was the second most popular drama of the week, Nielsen said.
For troubled NBC, the drama "Law & Order: SVU," at No. 40 was the network's most-watched scripted show, Nielsen said.
Fans also might wish to move fast if they want to check out a few other shows that may not be around much longer if their ratings don't improve. Among them: ABC's "Shark Tank," NBC's "Parks and Recreation," "Community" and "Heroes."
For the week, CBS averaged 11.3 million viewers (7.2 rating, 12 share). ABC had 9.6 million viewers (6.2, 10) and NBC had 7.8 million (4.9, 8). Fox had 7.6 million (4.5, 7), but it managed to win among the advertiser-friendly 18-to-49-year-old demographic. The CW had 2.2 million (1.5, 2) and ION Television had 650,000 (0.4, 1).
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1 "NCIS," CBS
