CBS Shows Beat NBC's SNF As Most-Watched

A pair of CBS programs were the top-viewed shows of 2016, dethroning NBC’s “Sunday Night Football” as the most-watched regularly-scheduled primetime program on television, according to a new report from Nielsen.

The Wall Street Journal reports “The Big Bang Theory” averaged 19.94 million viewers this year, followed by 19.89 million for “NCIS” and 19.28 million for “Sunday Night Football,” which last year topped the list with an average of 23.29 million people tuning in. The report measured live viewing plus seven days of delayed viewing.

NBC said that “Sunday Night Football” is averaging 20.08 million viewers this year when factoring in live and same day viewing for games through Dec. 12, while the Nielsen report only covered contests through Nov. 6.

The figures come during a tough year for ratings for NFL games, which were once thought of as immune to the challenges in the traditional television business. While CBS carried six out of the top 10 primetime shows, the network saw “Thursday Night Football” drop from sixth to ninth on Nielsen’s list this year. (It has split the package of games with NBC.)

Overall, there was a downshift in viewership among the top shows, with last year’s top three all generating audiences above 20 million viewers.