TV Ratings: ‘NCIS: Sydney’ Launches to Big U.S. Audience

The NCIS franchise’s first international edition got a warm welcome for its stateside premiere.

The debut of NCIS: Sydney on CBS delivered the biggest audience for a new series so far this fall and has accumulated nearly 10 million viewers in the six days after its Nov. 14 premiere. The show also scored well for its premiere on Paramount+ in Australia, where it films, and in Canada.

The series premiere drew 5.64 million viewers for its initial airing on CBS, the biggest same-day audience for an entertainment series on the network since the official start of the 2023-24 season Sept. 25. According to Nielsen’s most current data, that airing has since grown to 7.25 million viewers. A repeat of the episode on Nov. 18 (1.83 million viewers) and streaming on Paramount+ brings the episode’s cross-platform tally to 9.65 million as of Sunday.

The show’s early numbers are similar to those of NCIS: Hawai’i last season: It averaged just over 5 million same-day viewers, rising to 7.53 million over seven days of Nielsen-measured delayed viewing (which doesn’t include repeats or streaming). The flagship NCIS remains one of TV’s most watched shows, averaging 9.85 million viewers over seven days in 2022-23 (again, not including streaming).

In Australia, NCIS: Sydney became the most watched local series on Paramount+ since its launch in that country (though, per usual, audience figures weren’t available). Airing on Global in Canada, the show is the No. 1 English-language scripted series in the country so far this fall.