The 2021–2022 television season hasn’t even finished, but CBS is already calling it. In a May 3 press release citing ratings projections, CBS declared itself “America’s Most-Watched Network” for the 14th season in a row and for the 19th time in 20 years. (CBS also says it’s the top network in late night for the sixth straight year and tops in daytime for the 36th straight year.)
In the release, CBS brags that it has the top drama and broadcast series in general with NCIS, the top comedy with Young Sheldon, the top primetime news program with 60 Minutes, and the top new drama and new comedy with NCIS: Hawai‘i and Ghosts, respectively.
The chart of top-rated shows for this 2021-2022 season isn’t out yet, but past seasons’ rankings show how crime dramas and one “big bang” of a comedy have kept the network at No. 1.
According to our informal research of the broadcast networks’ top 10 shows each year since the 2008-2009 season — when CBS reclaimed its crown after Fox briefly became No. 1 — these are the TV shows that helped CBS dominate the primetime landscape recently.