Most Popular TV Shows of 2021-22, From ‘Yellowstone’ to ‘NCIS’

Don’t call it a comeback. But thanks to sports, ever-expanding drama franchises and a handful of new hits, the Big 4 broadcast networks managed to avoid another year-to-year collapse during the now-concluded TV season.

Football once again ruled primetime, led by NBC’s “Sunday Night Football,” while “Thursday Night Football” showed up twice on Nielsen’s top-rated series’ chart due to a quirk of some games airing only on NFL Network, and others simulcast on both Fox and NFL. (This won’t be an issue next year, as “Thursday Night Football” moves to Amazon Prime Video — and off this chart.)

But beyond that, network TV’s embrace of procedural dramas is giving broadcasters a fighting chance at survival. Dick Wolf is keeping the lights on at NBC and CBS, as the hitmaker’s “Law & Order,” “One Chicago” and “FBI” trilogies all make up a good chunk of the year’s most-watched TV show ranker. But ABC’s “Grey’s Anatomy” and Fox’s “9-1-1” universe also remain potent.

Proving that networks can still launch new hits, freshman shows like CBS’ “Ghosts,” Fox’s “Next Level Chef,” NBC’s “La Brea” and ABC’s “Abbott Elementary” all made the grade this year. As a result, CBS ended the recently concluded 2021-2022 TV season flat, with 6.2 million viewers, followed by NBC (helped by the Super Bowl and the Winter Olympics), up 14% vs. last year with 6 million viewers. Fox was in third, with 4.5 million (up 7%).

Not bad, and a relief after last year’s collapse, when ABC, NBC, CBS and Fox all suffered huge, double-digit dips. But this year’s tallies are still not back to network TV’s already eroding pre-pandemic audience numbers — and they probably never will be again. Those audiences, who migrated to other platforms in recent years, are at least probably still watching some of these shows. But their viewership is now being measured in the digital space, as they’re very unlikely to ever return to the linear world.

We remain in a period of transition, and that’s probably even more acutely felt in basic cable, where audiences are fleeing in even larger numbers than at the broadcasters. (There are some huge exceptions, like ESPN and TNT, but obviously because of sports.)

And yet the biggest entertainment show on TV is once again found on basic cable: Paramount Network — which had mostly gotten out of the original series business — suddenly has the No. 1 non-football show on television, “Yellowstone.”

The show’s sudden appearance in this year’s regular TV season ranker comes after Paramount decided to move Season 4 of “Yellowstone” into the fall. The modern-day Western from Taylor Sheridan had aired during the summers from 2018-20, keeping it out of Nielsen’s traditional September to May TV season tally. But this year, the show ran on Paramount from November to January — putting it up against traditional season favorites like “This Is Us” and “NCIS.” And for the first time since AMC’s “The Walking Dead” was a phenomenon, basic cable managed to beat out broadcast with the most-watched series (that wasn’t NFL football) in both total viewers and adults 18-49.

Here’s a final look at some of the hits and misses of 2021–2022, along with our lists of the most-watched shows of the season, according to both adults 18-49 and total viewers, using the most recent live+7 ratings (which include seven days’ worth of DVR and video on-demand usage).

WINNERS

Taylor Sheridan: The new king of primetime, Sheridan’s “Yellowstone” now reps the only entertainment series to average a 2.0 rating or better among adults 18-49. (Last year, “This Is Us” and “The Masked Singer” both secured a 2.0, but dropped this time). And while “Yellowstone” overtook broadcast staples including “NCIS” in total viewers, that’s actually not all. His series “1883” and “The Mayor of Kingstown” also made it on to the top 100 lists — but weren’t included here, because in both cases they were just two episode samples on Paramount Network, before moving on to their Paramount+ streaming home. An honorable mention here to Paramount Network for helping keep the basic cable scripted dream alive; ditto AMC, which still placed “The Walking Dead” and “Better Call Saul” on the rankers.

“Curse of Oak Island”: It’s still there. We’ll continue to marvel at the staying power of History channel’s “Curse of Oak Island,” a show that no one knows in Hollywood, but is clearly a phenomenon in other parts of the country. Last year, it was the most-watched cable entertainment series overall; this year, it’s No. 2 behind “Yellowstone.”

“90 Day Fiancé”: The “90 Day Fiancé” franchise also continues to amaze: “90 Day Fiancé: Before the 90 Days,” “90 Day Fiancé: The Other Way” and “90 Day Fiancé” are among the top-rated cable series of the year in adults 18-49.

“Ghosts”: The CBS hit comedy was the most-watched new series of the year in primetime, and was tied with Fox’s “Next Level Chef” as the top-rated freshman in the demo.

LOSERS

“Magnum P.I.”: Time for Thomas Magnum to solve the biggest mystery of his career: Who killed CBS’ “Magnum P.I.”? Much to the chagrin of the series’ fans, “Magnum” was the most-watched series to still earn a cancellation this year. It was axed despite averaging 7.3 million viewers (just down slightly from last year’s 7.4 million), good enough for No. 28 on the chart.

Baseball: NFL dominates the ratings schedule, and NBA makes the top 100 charts too. But where’s the original pastime? Once again, there’s no regular MLB franchise that makes the ratings grade.

Adults 18-49 ratings charts: How much longer can we even keep reporting young adult demos, when the numbers become microscopic? When there’s a 12-way tie for 19th place with a 1.0 rating, and the top 100 chart ends with a 28-way tie for 89th place with a 0.5 rating… the numbers lose any real meaning or value.

THE 100 TOP-RATED SERIES OF 2021-2022 (ADULTS 18-49)

TOP 100 SHOWS OF 2021-2022, TOTAL VIEWERS

America’s most-watched series of the 2020-2021 season are …

THE MOST-WATCHED NETWORKS OF 2021-2022 (BY TOTAL VIEWERS)

1. CBS (6,222,000; flat)
2. NBC (5,988,000; up 14%)
3. Fox (4,473,000; up 7%)
4. ABC (4,171,000; down 10%)
5. Fox News (2,474,000; down 16%)
6. ESPN (2,146,000; up 20%)
7. Univision (1,489,000; up 11%)
8. TNT (1,183,000; up 19%)
9. Hallmark (1,166,000; down 11%)
10. MSNBC (1,162,000; down 46%)
11. HGTV (1,139,000; down 12%)
12. TBS (1,087,000; down 1%)
13. Ion (1,024,000; down 4%)
14. TLC (1,022,000; down 2%)
15. Telemundo (991,000; down 4%)
16. Discovery (869,000; down 11%)
17. History (860,000; down 13%)
18. Food Network (844,000; down 6%)
19. INSP (822,000; up 15%)
20. USA Network (774,000; down 9%)

THE TOP-RATED NETWORKS OF 2021-2022 (BY ADULTS 18-49)

1. NBC (1,458,000; up 10%)
2. Fox (1,346,000; down 3%)
3. CBS (1,033,000; down 18%)
4. ABC (936,000; down 21%)
5. ESPN (814,000; up 18%)
6. Univision (599,000; up 17%)
7. TNT (498,000; up 18%)
8. TBS (381,000; down 6%)
9. Telemundo (379,000; down 5%)
10. TLC (291,000; down 13%)