Most Watched Shows on TV, 2012-2013: 'NCIS', 'Sunday Night Football' & 'Big Bang Theory' Top the List [VIDEO]
TV Guide announced on Monday the most-watched TV programs from the 2012-2013 season.
CBS drama NCIS topped the list with a season average of 21.6 million viewers. The crime procedural topped the list for the first time after 10 seasons on the air. NBC's Sunday Night Football came in second after topping the list the last two years. It came in at 21 million viewers on average.
A trio of CBS shows rounded out the top five: in third place was The Big Bang Theory. Being highest rated sitcom on the list, the show hit 19 million viewers on average. NCIS: Los Angeles, a spinoff of NCIS, came in fourth, garnering 17.5 million viewers. Sophomore drama Person of Interest came in fifth with 16.2 million viewers.
From there, the rest of the top 10 is comprised of reality shows and one cable breakout hit. American Idol, which once dominated television as the No. 1 show for eight consecutive years, dropped to sixth (for its Tuesday performance shows) this year with an average of 15.1 million viewers.
Dancing With the Stars, the American Idol Thursday results show and The Voice Monday performance show each garnered around 14-15 million viewers each. The Walking Dead came in at No. 10, which TV Guide noted was "a rare feat for a cable series." The AMC zombie thriller came in at 14.3 million viewers per week.
Another highlight from the chart is A&E reality show Duck Dynasty, which came in at No. 21 with 12.4 million average viewers. As noted, it is rare for cable shows to break out and become just as popular as more widely available network shows. The Walking Dead, Duck Dynasty and ESPN's Monday Night Football are the only cable shows on the list.
As far as new shows, only CBS's Elementary and Fox's The Following managed to break into the top 25, coming in at No. 15 and 23 respectively.
For a full list of the top 25, click here.
Watch highlights from the season 10 finale of NCIS:
