NEW YORK -- Now that football season is almost finished, the dominant nights in broadcast television are coming into focus.
As illustrated in the Nielsen company's ratings for last week, that would be CBS' night of drama on Tuesday and Dick Wolf's trilogy of “Chicago” series Wednesday on NBC.
Even though it has been on the air since 2003, CBS' “NCIS” continues a remarkable streak of popularity. With nearly 11.4 million viewers on the night it aired last Tuesday, it was the only television show aside from the Grammys to pass the 10 million mark last week, at least before delayed viewing is counted in.
Paired with “FBI,” it makes for a strong one-two punch of action for CBS on Tuesdays. The newer “FBI: Most Wanted” has some distance to go before reaching that level.
Wolf is a proven television hitmaker, and NBC does very well on Wednesdays with his three dramas that focus on a Chicago hospital, police department and fire department. All three finished among Nielsen's top 10 shows last week.
The third season premiere of “Station 19”on ABC did slightly better than the series it spun off from, “Grey's Anatomy.”
The Grammys reached nearly 18.7 million viewers on CBS Sunday, down about a million from each of the last two years.
CBS won the week in prime time, averaging 7.2 million viewers. ABC eked out a second place showing, averaging 4 million viewers, while NBC had 3.9 million. Fox had 2.4 million, Univision had 1.5 million, ION Television had 1.3 million, Telemundo had 1.1 million and the CW had 690,000.
News dominated the cable ratings last week with President Donald Trump's impeachment hearings. Fox News Channel averaged 3.32 million ratings in prime time, MSNBC had 1.96 million, ESPN had 1.22 million, TLC had 1.2 million and CNN had 1.18 million.
ABC's “World News Tonight” won the evening news ratings race, averaging 9.1 million viewers. NBC's “Nightly News” had 7.9 million viewers and the “CBS Evening News” had 5.9 million.
For the week of Jan. 20-26, the top 20 shows, their networks and viewerships:
1. “Grammy Awards,” CBS, 18.69 million.
2. “NCIS,” CBS, 11.37 million.
3. “FBI,” CBS, 9.25 million.
4. “Chicago Med,” NBC, 8.44 million.
5. “Chicago Fire,” NBC, 8.19 million.
6. “Grammy Awards Red Carpet,” CBS, 7.19 million.
7. “America's Got Talent Champions,” NBC, 7.05 million.
8. “Station 19,” ABC, 7.02 million.
9. "Chicago PD, NBC, 6.92 million.
10. “The Neighborhood,” CBS, 6.81 million.
11. “Grey's Anatomy,” ABC, 6.67 million.
12. “This Is Us,” NBC, 61 million.
13. “FBI: Most Wanted,” CBS, 6.6 million.
14. “Bob Hearts Abishola,” CBS, 6.51 million.
15. “The Bachelor,” ABC, 6.29 million.
16. “Bull,” CBS, 6.05 million.
17. “911: Lone Star,” Fox, 5.95 million.
18. “America's Funniest Home Videos,” ABC, 5.86 million.
19. “All Rise,” CBS, 5.81 million.
20. “Young Sheldon,” CBS, 5.6 million.
