NCIS ratings have dropped since Agent Gibbs’ exit

WARNING: This article contains spoilers from NCIS. 

Are NCIS ratings dropping?

NCIS fans are curious to know if the show has dipped in popularity with its 21st season expected to start in just a couple of months’ time. 

The CBS police procedural was considered TV’s most-watched drama for years but this is sadly no longer the case.

During the 2010s, NCIS was consistently drawing in 12 to 15 million live viewers every week and was at the top of the ratings charts.  

But season 20 saw the show take a massive hit with the 2022 fall finale attracting an estimated average of 6.4million viewers to the network, according to Spoiler TV. 

And generally, NCIS has been averaging 6.555 million watchers each week which is a 10.5per cent drop from the previous year.

It may not be a coincidence that season 20 was the first full series without veteran actor Mark Harmon as Agent Leroy Jethro Gibbs following his series 19 exit. 

Gibbs was first suspended from working at NCIS after attacking the head of a dog-fighting ring in season 18 and slowly but surely, he was starring in fewer scenes to get fans used to the idea of him not being around. 

But going by the show’s ratings, it doesn’t seem to have worked too well. 

It isn’t going too well for its spin-off NCIS Hawaii either, despite being only two seasons in.

NCIS Hawaii airs after the flagship show with its final episode of 2022 only drawing in an average of 4.5 million viewers, so a much smaller audience than the franchise is used to. 

What is good news though is NCIS and NCIS Hawaii were still the highest-rated network shows to come out on Monday night. 

While NCIS beat The Cleaning Lady on Fox and The Voice on NBC, NCIS Hawaii had better numbers than That’s My Jam on NBC and The Good Doctor on ABC. 

Things did pick up a little at the beginning of the year with the three-part crossover special.

Both NCIS and NCIS Hawaii instalments for the crossover drew in just under eight million viewers. 

This was a major boost for the series, although the viewership was still far lower than the massive numbers NCIS was used to just a few seasons ago. 

It wasn’t a big night all round, however, as roughly a million people lost interest by the third of the three crossover episodes with NCIS LA’s A Long Time Coming attracting just 6.8million.

NCIS is available to watch on CBS.