The Breakdown: CBS Sunday in 2020-21 (60 Minutes, The Equalizer, NCIS: Los Angeles, NCIS: New Orleans)

It's time for a journey through the CBS Sunday schedule in 2020-21...

Spotted Ratings, Sunday 5/23/21

FINALS UPDATE: American Idol (0.9, +0.2), The Equalizer (0.7) and Billboard Music Awards (0.7) adjusted up while America's Funniest Home Videos (0.6) and 60 Minutes (0.7, -0.3) adjusted down.

WHAT MATTERS:

• Numbers posted. NBC aired the Billboard Music Awards against ABC's American Idol finale. CBS had PGA Championship overrun leading into the season finales of The Equalizer and NCIS: Los Angeles and the series finale of NCIS: New Orleans. Fox's Duncanville returned for two Sunday preview episodes before a Monday summer run.

Spotted Ratings, Sunday 5/16/21

FINALS UPDATE: America's Funniest Home Videos (0.7, +0.2), American Idol (0.8), The Equalizer (0.7), Zoey's Extraordinary Playlist (0.3) and Good Girls (0.4) adjusted up.

WHAT MATTERS:

• Numbers posted.

Spotted Ratings, Sunday 5/9/21

FINALS UPDATE: America's Funniest Home Videos (0.7), 60 Minutes (0.6), The Equalizer (0.7), NCIS: Los Angeles (0.6), American Ninja Warrior Special (0.4) and Zoey's Extraordinary Playlist (0.3) adjusted up.

WHAT MATTERS:

• ABC had a positive evening with American Idol (0.7/0.8) steady or up and The Rookie rising to a preliminary 0.6 for the first time since February. They held off a steady to narrowly down CBS with The Equalizer (0.6), NCIS: Los Angeles (0.5) and NCIS: New Orleans (0.5).
  

• Fox had mixed news as The Simpsons dropped to its first ever preliminary 0.3 at 8/7c, but Bob's Burgers (0.5) and Family Guy (0.5) were up in the 9/8c hour. NBC had a two-hour American Ninja Warrior special (0.3/0.4) leading into Zoey's Extraordinary Playlist (0.2) and Good Girls (0.3).
  

Spotted Ratings, Sunday 5/2/21

FINALS UPDATE: American Idol (0.8), 60 Minutes (0.6), The Equalizer (0.7), Ellen's Game of Games (R) (0.3), The Simpsons (R) (0.3) and Bob's Burgers (0.4) adjusted up.

WHAT MATTERS:

• Disney Night on American Idol (0.7) matched the show's last prelim from two weeks ago, while lead-out The Rookie (0.5) was on the upswing at 10/9c. It was a fairly close race against CBS as The Equalizer (0.6) matched its last prelim while NCIS: Los Angeles (0.6) and NCIS: New Orleans (0.5) were up.
  

• On NBC, Ellen's Game of Games (0.4) actually hit its highest prelim since the move to Sunday, and Zoey's Extraordinary Playlist (0.3) was up in prelims as well, matching Good Girls (0.3). Fox was only partially original with Bless the Harts (0.2), Bob's Burgers (0.3) and Family Guy (0.4).
  

• And the return of DC's Legends of Tomorrow (0.1) did not liven up CW Sundays, while Batwoman (0.1) moved to 9/8c.
  

Spotted Ratings, Sunday 4/4/21

FINALS UPDATE: America's Funniest Home Videos (0.6), The Equalizer (0.7) and Ellen's Game of Games (0.3) adjusted up.

WHAT MATTERS:

• With no more basketball help, CBS was on the downswing with The Equalizer (0.6), NCIS: Los Angeles (0.5) and NCIS: New Orleans (0.4), while The Rookie (0.5) perked up following American Idol (0.7/0.8) to give ABC a win in each hour.
  

• It was very ugly on the other big four networks as Fox's Bless the Harts fell to a 0.1 without its usual animated teammates, and two-hour special Malika the Lion Queen (0.1/0.2) did not do much better. NBC's Ellen's Game of Games fell to a 0.2 leading into Zoey's Extraordinary Playlist (0.2).
  

Spotted Ratings, Sunday 3/28/21

FINALS UPDATE: America's Funniest Home Videos (0.7), NCAA Overrun (2.3, +0.9), 60 Minutes (1.1, +0.2), The Equalizer (0.8) and NCIS: New Orleans (0.6) adjusted up.

WHAT MATTERS:

• With another round of NCAA basketball overrun (1.4), CBS was roughly even in the prelims with 60 Minutes (0.9), The Equalizer (0.7), NCIS: Los Angeles (0.6) and NCIS: New Orleans (0.5).
  

• NBC moved Zoey's Extraordinary Playlist (0.2) back to its season one timeslot, where it lost half the demo rating it was pulling on Tuesday. Ellen's Game of Games (0.3) was unchanged in a move to 8/7c and Good Girls had to beat its lead-in just to get back to a 0.3 at 10/9c.
  

• ABC's The Rookie (0.4) returned from a month off leading out of a steady American Idol (0.8). Fox's Cherries Wild dropped to 0.1 with less afternoon lead-in help, while the animation (0.2/0.4/0.3/0.4/0.4) including a The Great North repeat looked pretty even.
  

Spotted Ratings, Sunday 2/28/21

FINALS UPDATE: NCIS: New Orleans (0.6), Golden Globe Awards (1.5, +0.3) and Bob's Burgers (0.4) adjusted up while Golden Globes Arrivals (0.6) and Cherries Wild (0.3, -0.2) adjusted down.

WHAT MATTERS:

• Preliminary ratings for the Golden Globe Awards (1.4/1.3/1.0) were down a staggering two-thirds or so from the year-ago event, which aired in early January 2020 to a 3.8 prelim (and adjusted up to a 4.7 final).
  

• The Globes had little effect on competing America's Funniest Home Videos (0.8) and American Idol (1.0), though The Rookie (0.4) fell back to its usual fall level at 10/9c. CBS was also even to narrowly down with The Equalizer (0.7) and the NCIS spin-offs (0.5/0.5).
  

• NASCAR overrun could cause changes but it was preliminarily a rotten night for the Fox animation, with The Simpsons (0.4), The Great North (0.3), Bob's Burgers (0.3) and Family Guy (0.4) all eyeing new lows.
  

Spotted Ratings, Sunday 2/21/21

FINALS UPDATE: The Rookie (0.6), 60 Minutes (0.8), The Equalizer (0.8), The Widower (0.4) and Cherries Wild (0.3) adjusted up.

WHAT MATTERS:

• Week two of The Equalizer (0.7) dropped by two tenths from its timeslot premiere, matching its 60 Minutes lead-in (0.7) and remaining ahead of NCIS: Los Angeles (0.6) and NCIS: New Orleans (0.5).
  

• Fox had the delayed premiere of game show Cherries Wild (0.2), which was hopeless alongside Bless the Harts (0.2) in the 7/6c hour. The regular lineup of The Simpsons (0.5), The Great North (0.4), Bob's Burgers (0.5) and Family Guy (0.5) perked up from there but were still on the low end.
  

• ABC's American Idol (1.0) and The Rookie (0.5) each declined in their second week together, and NBC finished out The Widower (0.3/0.4).
  

Spotted Ratings, Sunday 2/14/21

FINALS UPDATE: American Idol (1.2), 60 Minutes (0.8) and NASCAR (0.9, +0.2) adjusted up.

WHAT MATTERS:

• A week after its post-Super Bowl airing, The Equalizer (0.9) got off to a good start in its regular Sunday 8/7c slot, building on 60 Minutes (0.7) and outrating all episodes of the NCIS spin-offs on the night this season. NCIS: Los Angeles (0.7) and NCIS: New Orleans (0.5) rounded out the night for CBS.
  

• ABC had the return of American Idol (1.1), looking to be down 20%ish from last year's 1.47 premiere. It was also a boon to the surrounding programs, with America's Funniest Home Videos (0.8, tie) and The Rookie (0.6) both at season high levels.
  

• Fox was on the map with the Daytona 500 in primetime (0.6/0.5/0.7/0.9) and NBC went low with a Grand Ole Opry special (0.3).
  

Spotted Ratings, Sunday 1/17/21

FINALS UPDATE: The Rookie (0.5), 60 Minutes (1.2) and NFL Playoffs (9.9, +1.8) adjusted up while The Great North (2.1, -0.5) adjusted down.

WHAT MATTERS:

• Fox had a huge NFL playoff game in primetime (8.1), leading into another preview of The Great North (2.6 for the 10:00 half-hour) and an original Family Guy (1.1 for the 10:30 half-hour).
  

• ABC had a rough time against the bigger competition with Who Wants to Be a Millionaire (0.4) moving to 8/7c and Card Sharks (0.3) returning at 9/8c, while The Rookie (0.4) managed to build on its lead-in. CBS' NCIS spin-offs (0.6/0.5) held up a little better thanks to some indirect help from the late afternoon game on CBS, which led into 60 Minutes (1.1).
  

• And the CW's Batwoman (0.1) quietly became the first of the network's regular scripted stable to return after sitting out in the fall due to production delays. If it doesn't adjust up, it would be just the second 0.1 ever for Batwoman (it got there against the Grammys around this time last year).
  

Spotted Ratings, Sunday 1/10/21

FINALS UPDATE: NFL Playoffs Overrun (7.5, +1.5), 60 Minutes (2.1, +0.2), NFL Playoffs (7.3, +1.1) and Family Guy (R) (0.4) adjusted up while Mr. Mayor (R) (0.5, -1.0) and NFL Playoffs Pregame (1.3, -2.4) adjusted down.

WHAT MATTERS:

• Returning to originals after its marathon was preempted on Wednesday, Who Wants to Be a Millionaire (0.5) was even while its lead-out The Rookie (0.4) ticked down from last week's premiere. A repeat of Celebrity Wheel of Fortune (0.6) took over in the 8/7c hour and outrated last week's Supermarket Sweep.
  

• CBS' 60 Minutes (1.9) and the NCIS spin-offs (0.7/0.5) got a boost from a late afternoon NFL playoff lead-in, while NBC (6.8/6.5/5.5) dominated primetime with its own NFL game.
  

Spotted Ratings, Sunday 1/3/21

FINALS UPDATE: Who Wants to Be a Millionaire (0.5), NFL Overrun (3.4, +1.1), 60 Minutes (1.2, +0.3), NCIS: Los Angeles (0.6), NCIS: New Orleans (0.5), Sunday Night Football (4.6, +0.8), NFL Overrun (Fox) (6.0, +2.7), The OT (2.6, +0.7), Call Me Kat (1.4), The Great North (0.7) and The Simpsons (0.6) adjusted up while The Outpost (0.0) adjusted down.

WHAT MATTERS:

• Week 17 of the NFL season means national late-afternoon games on both networks, and Fox used its opportunity to preview Thursday-bound sitcom Call Me Kat (1.3), which held on rather well considering the Fox NFL games ended early and the network had just a preliminary 1.9 at 7:30. The network then fell off quickly with the premiere of animated newbie The Great North (0.6) at 8:30, The Simpsons (0.5) at 9:00, and finally a 9:30 preview of the final season of Last Man Standing (0.5).
  

• ABC opened season three of The Rookie (0.5), down a couple tenths from its last season premiere in fall 2019, but it grew from its Who Wants to Be a Millionaire lead-in (0.4). Millionaire and Supermarket Sweep (0.5) pretty much stayed at their diminished December levels.
  

• CBS gave its NFL lead-in to 60 Minutes (0.9 from 8:00-9:00) and the NCIS spin-offs (0.5/0.4 from 9:00-11:00), which could adjust up a touch since they started about 15 minutes earlier than the listed times.
  

Spotted Ratings, Sunday 12/13/20

FINALS UPDATE: Card Sharks (0.3), 60 Minutes (0.8), NCIS: Los Angeles (0.6), Sunday Night Football (4.6, +0.7), NFL Overrun (5.7, +1.2), Bless the Harts (0.7) and Bob's Burgers (0.7) adjusted up while Football Night in America p2 (1.0, -0.5) and Football Night in America p3 (2.4, -1.1) adjusted down.

WHAT MATTERS:

• ABC's Supermarket Sweep (0.5) and Who Wants to Be a Millionaire (0.3) are eyeing new lows on their last Sunday together in 2020. (Card Sharks also fell to 0.2, which it has hit before.)
  

• None of the other entertainment options fared much better, with CBS' NCIS spin-offs (0.5/0.4) and Fox's cartoons (1.3/0.6/0.6/0.7) on the low end (for an NFL evening in Fox's case). And the CW got 0.0's on the same night for the first time since Pandora and The Outpost were paired together.
  

Spotted Ratings, Sunday 11/22/20

FINALS UPDATE: America's Funniest Home Videos (0.6), Sunday Night Football (5.4, +1.2), NFL Overrun (6.1, +1.7), The OT (6.1, +1.9) and Bob's Burgers (0.7) adjusted up while Pandora (0.0) adjusted down.

WHAT MATTERS:

• The American Music Awards (1.0/1.0/0.8) on ABC became the latest awards show to take a major dip in the COVID era, eyeing a 40%ish decline from last year's 1.7.
  

• Fox had an NFL overrun that ran almost up to the end of the 7:00 hour, but preliminarily The Simpsons (1.5) was only a bit up from last week, Bless the Harts (0.7) was even and the 9/8c veterans (0.6/0.6) were down.
  

• CBS was even to slightly up with its NCIS spin-offs (0.6/0.5). The CW's The Outpost hung onto its 0.1 in a move to Sunday after Pandora (0.1).
  

Spotted Ratings, Sunday 11/15/20

FINALS UPDATE: America's Funniest Home Videos (0.8), Football Night in America p3 (3.3), Sunday Night Football (4.6, +0.9), NFL Overrun (5.4, +2.4), The Simpsons (1.3) and Bless the Harts (0.7) adjusted up.

WHAT MATTERS:

• Thanks to early afternoon Masters coverage on CBS, both CBS and Fox had a late-afternoon NFL lead-in for most of the country. The hourly numbers given are 2.0/1.0/0.5/0.3 but with most of the country starting primetime at 7:34 ET, the reality is probably closer to 2.4 for the NFL overrun, 1.6/1.3 for 60 Minutes, 0.6/0.5 for NCIS: Los Angeles and 0.4/0.4 for NCIS: New Orleans.
  

• With a diluted NFL lead-in, Fox's cartoons were lower than two weeks ago when they had NFL support, with big drops for The Simpsons (1.2) and Bless the Harts (0.6), though Bob's Burgers (0.7) and Family Guy (0.7) perked back up in the 9/8c hour. ABC's Supermarket Sweep (0.8) was on the upswing while the other three hours (0.7/0.5/0.3) were even.
  

SpotVault - NCIS: New Orleans (CBS) - 2020-21 Ratings

NCIS: New Orleans

Sundays, 10/9c, CBS

Status: ENDING after this season (confirmed on 2/17/2021)

Spotted Ratings, Sunday 11/8/20

FINALS UPDATE: Who Wants to Be a Millionaire (0.5), NFL Overrun (5.8, +1.3), 60 Minutes (2.0, +0.6), NCIS: Los Angeles (0.8), NCIS: New Orleans (0.6), Sunday Night Football (5.0, +1.0) and The Simpsons (0.7) adjusted up.

WHAT MATTERS:

• The CBS procedurals NCIS: Los Angeles and NCIS: New Orleans returned after a national NFL-boosted 60 Minutes. The hourly breakdowns were 4.5/1.4/0.7/0.5 and the half-hours were 5.2/3.8/1.8/1.1/0.8/0.7/0.5/0.4. The primetime lineup started right at 7:45 on the East Coast, so the top-of-hour numbers may not be too far off of where they end up in finals (that would be 1.8 for 60 Minutes, 0.8 for LA and 0.5 for NO).
  

• ABC's Supermarket Sweep (0.7) and Who Wants to Be a Millionaire (0.4) will again be looking for finals help to avoid new lows, while the Fox animation (0.6/0.4/0.6/0.6) aired without NFL help and looked a little better than when it was last in that spot four weeks ago (0.5/0.4/0.5/0.6).
  

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