By all accounts, NCIS should not be thriving in 2025. In a world that has shifted primarily to streaming, this largely network-based franchise has defied all odds and remains one of the most-watched procedurals on the small screen. Over its 22-year-long run, it dominated programming for years, and even though it isn’t necessarily the juggernaut it used to be, NCIS shows no indication of slowing down. In fact, it continues to expand the universe and employs techniques that other legacy network shows should probably be learning.
One of the more intuitive reasons NCIS has survived the surge in popularity of streaming is its long run. Over the years, the consistency of its content and release schedules gained the trust of fans, building a dedicated community that would follow the franchise into the recent global spin-offs like NCIS: Tony & Ziva or NCIS: Sydney. This commitment is a refreshing counterpoint to the streaming churn that is constantly looking for new conceits, but it’s not the only method CBS employs. Subtly, NCIS has been carving the roadmap for legacy procedurals to stay relevant and thriving, and its power moves are especially present in the coming weeks.
CBS’ “Super Tuesday” Is a Programming Power Play
The first method CBS uses to keep NCIS going is “Super Tuesday,” a completely stacked three-hour block of primetime NCIS viewing. The network kicked off October 13 with Season 23 of NCIS at an earlier time slot of 8pm ET, then follows it with Season 2 of NCIS: Origins at 9pm ET. Finally, Sydney moves from Friday to a Tuesday time slot of 10pm, rounding off the three hours. Considering the team has already announced a crossover event with NCIS and Origins on November 11th, this timing also gives Sydney, one of the franchise’s international and somewhat separate spin-offs, a greater chance to also crossover and gain viewership. It’s not just a truckload of NCIS, but a meaningful move that could potentially be cross-functionally beneficial.
But synergy isn’t the only thing that makes this primetime block a power play; it’s also the statement CBS makes while doing this. In an era that has arguably killed off “live TV,” CBS claims that appointment viewing still works by essentially making NCIS a television event. Even if the brand of network TV is slowly losing its appeal in a world where streaming is immediately accessible (albeit behind a paywall), CBS still puts its trust in the anticipation of a weekly release schedule, and considering NCIS’s surge in popularity, it’s working. But putting three shows consecutively isn’t the only component in their roadmap, since other franchises like Chicago and Law & Order have also done this. What makes the primetime block work is that CBS also expanded into streaming.
Streaming Joins the Party — and That’s the Real Innovation
Last week, NCIS fans got four episodes of fresh new content across the franchise, and they will again the following week. This includes the three shows on Super Tuesday and Tony & Ziva on Paramount+. While NCIS Season 23, Origins Season 2, and Sydney Season 3 all premiered on October 14, Tony & Ziva ran their penultimate episode and will wrap up their first season on October 23, but that’s not diminishing their integral role in CBS’s power play and NCIS’s continued survival. The international and inter-platform spin-off is a key twist in NCIS’s history of broadcasting, and one that defines the franchise’s roadmap.
Re-introducing two fan-favorite characters into the franchise, Tony & Ziva isn’t just a side show that dips into espionage and streaming; it is part of a unified narrative universe running concurrently with programming. Here, the audience doesn’t just channel-hop — they platform-hop. By hybridizing both major formats of television, NCIS is testing a model that no one has necessarily nailed before. It’s certainly experimental ground, but the spin-off has landed on Paramount+’s Top 10 spot every week, and the Rotten Tomatoes audience ratings (72%) are tied for second-highest in the franchise with Origins, suggesting that the cross-platform approach is succeeding so far.
The quality of and approach to the spin-off’s storytelling also plays a part in getting this model to succeed. CBS isn’t just blasting us with content everywhere; it’s connecting the universe in meaningful ways that reward loyalty across platforms. The spin-off’s couple is expanding on the story the flagship show left off, while still calling back to moments held dear to fans. It’s still an NCIS show at heart, even if it’s on a different platform and in a different genre, which suggests there is a benefit to merging broadcast’s consistency with streaming’s flexibility if done right.
What Is the Lesson for Every Network Trying To Survive Streaming?
Just because NCIS succeeded with its loyalty to broadcasting by making a primetime block of viewing and its experimental play to move across platforms, doesn’t mean simply replicating this stunt will be beneficial for other legacy IPs. As mentioned before, Law & Order and Chicago have also tried putting out four episodes a week with varying success, and there are certainly shows that have found a second life after being re-released onto streaming. But what NCIS has done is essentially pave the roadmap to broadcasting’s next survival phase by tying the two platforms together and capitalizing on the trust it has earned over decades.
Audiences need a reason to keep coming back to both formats of television, and NCIS gave them this. Naturally, being a high-quality show that fans always come back to plays a part in this, but there also needs to be tonal cohesion between the cross-platform spin-offs; otherwise, it just becomes too easy to write off. Like the general rule of spin-offs, there needs to be a hook, but even more so considering you’re asking your audience to cross over to another platform rather than a channel or a page. But if other legacy IPs do succeed in following in NCIS’s footsteps, it may just spell a new era for live television.
