‘Sheriff Country’ Hits Series High of 5.5 Million Viewers as CBS Wins Premiere Week With Eight of the Top 10 Broadcast Shows

CBS was the most-watched broadcaster of the week of Oct. 4-10, during which it debuted new seasons of the shows on its primetime lineup.

The Eye network averaged 4.4 million viewers in primetime during that window, a significant lead on its next closest competitor, which was NBC with a 3.4 million-viewer average. ABC and Fox trailed with 2.6 million and 1.4 million viewers, respectively.

In addition, CBS was the only network to show growth compared to the same week last year, up 9% from last year’s 4.1 million viewers. It should be noted, though, that CBS did a heavier premiere-week push than its competitors, which premiered some of their shows in September and will debut others later in the fall.

Among the highlights of CBS’ premiere week performance was “Sheriff Country,” the “Fire Country” spinoff that achieved a series high of just under 5.5 million viewers with its Season 2 premiere on Friday, marking a 25% increase on the Season 1 premiere last year. Also impressive was new drama series “Cupertino,” which beat “Law & Order” in the same timeslot with 3.2 million viewers.

CBS had eight of the top 10 broadcast shows from Oct. 4-10: “60 Minutes” with 10.2 million viewers, “Marshals” with 8.2 million, “Tracker” with 7 million, “NCIS” with 6.4 million, “NCIS: New York” with 5.6 million, “FBI” with 5.5 million, “Georgie & Mandy’s First Marriage” with just under 5.5 million and “Sheriff Country” slightly behind “Georgie & Mandy.” The only non-CBS series to make the top 10 for the week were “Dancing With the Stars” at No. 4 with 6.4 million viewers on ABC and “Chicago Med” at No. 6 with 5.6 million viewers on NBC.

Along with making the top 10, “NCIS: New York” and “Georgie & Mandy” were the most-watched new broadcast series and the most-watched broadcast comedy, respectively.

CBS showed year-over-year growth all five nights of the week. On Sunday, the network saw a 48% increase compared to last year, led by “60 Minutes” and “Marshals.” The Monday night lineup scored a 19% increase, with “FBI” in particular debuting with 24% more viewers than the year before. Tuesday —aka “NCIS” night — was up 40%, while Wednesday was up 8%, Thursday was up 14% and Friday was up 5%.