It's been a satisfying Season 17 for NCIS fans thus far, and the winter finale was no exception. Despite that, shows can lag in viewership the closer we get to the holidays, and it looks like the CBS procedural is no exception. While NCIS is usually a strong ratings contender, some people with the show may be saying "good grief" after the final NCIS episode of 2019 lost out to A Charlie Brown Christmas in the live + same day 18-49 ratings.
That's right, that blockhead Charlie Brown somehow managed to topple a high-profile episode of NCIS which featured Ziva David and a pretty shocking reveal in a key category. The live+same day numbers for the 18-49 demographic are in (via Showbuzzdaily.com), and A Charlie Brown Christmas pulled in a respectable 1.1 rating to NCIS' 1.0. That 1.1 still wasn't enough to win the entire night of television, though the special did outrank all other shows in that demographic while it was on. Pretty impressive, considering that hour also contained the first half of The Voice's season finale!
It wasn't an across the board win for A Charlie Brown Christmas in regards to NCIS though. The special pulled a 0.6 in the Adults 18-34 Live+ Same Day demographic, and NCIS actually overtook A Charlie Brown Christmas in the Adults 25-54 with a 1.6 to Charlie Brown's 1.5. In terms of overall viewership, NCIS nearly tripled A Charlie Brown Christmas numbers with over 11 million viewers compared to over 4 million.
So, again, A Charlie Brown Christmas didn't dominate NCIS in every way, but its toppling in one key demographic is still very impressive. NCIS has been hyping this Ziva episode for quite a while, and A Charlie Brown Christmas is a decades old Christmas special that already aired on ABC once this year. As beloved as a classic as it is, it is a bit surprising the television special beat one of network television's biggest shows in even one category.
With that said, 'tis the season and there's no denying a good number of Americans are in full-out Christmas mode by this point in the year. If ever there were a point where a classic story about the true meaning of Christmas would outrank an action-packed procedural and one of its biggest plot lines of the season, this is it. That said, NCIS is fine, and no one should be worrying about a continued decline in the ratings just because of this information.
NCIS' Ziva Describes 'The Worst Moment' Of Her Life In Fall Finale Scene
NCIS returns to CBS after the winter break on Tuesday, January 7 at 8:00 p.m. ET. As always, be sure to stick with CinemaBlend for more on the series, and for a look at what else is happening in the world of television and movies.
