The Breakdown: CBS Tuesday in 2016-17 (NCIS, Bull, NCIS: New Orleans)

It's time for a journey through the CBS Tuesday schedule in 2016-17...


fall

Year	8:00	8:30	9:00	9:30	10:00	10:30	Avg
2015-16	NCIS		NCIS	NCIS: New Orleans		NCIS: New Orleans	Limitless		Limitless	124
	2015-16	152		152	115		115	104			104	124
2016-17	NCIS		NCIS	Bull		Bull	NCIS: New Orleans		NCIS: New Orleans	130 (+5%)
	2016-17	152 (0%)		151.842567389586	133 (+16%)		133 (+16%)	103 (-1%)			103 (-1%)	129.528785085024
VsAvg	+20%		0.199228823000948	+18%		0.17649950340341	+15%		0.152701113187377	+18%
Rank	7/16		7/16	7/16		7/16	4/16		4/16	3/16

All was well in the opening months of CBS' revamped Tuesday, as NCIS was even in Plus and NCIS: New Orleans was able to live up to the strong early-season Limitless numbers. In the middle, there was real growth as the early weeks of Michael Weatherly's Bull proved an attractive option for fans of the mothership.

winter

Year	8:00	8:30	9:00	9:30	10:00	10:30	Avg
2015-16	NCIS		NCIS	NCIS: New Orleans		NCIS: New Orleans	Limitless		Limitless	126
	2015-16	162		162	132		132	84			84	126
2016-17	NCIS		NCIS	Bull		Bull	NCIS: New Orleans		NCIS: New Orleans	115 (-8%)
	2016-17	143 (-12%)		143.445743386476	111 (-16%)		111 (-16%)	92 (+10%)			92 (+10%)	115.456330042773
VsAvg	+17%		0.170328574872051	+1%		0.00691839930854956	+6%		0.0602272683574137	+8%
Rank	8/16		8/16	11/16		11/16	9/16		9/16	9/16

But things got a little shakier for this usually proud night in the winter. NCIS did not get its usual winter spike, and Bull's retention also soured a bit. NCIS: New Orleans actually emerged as the relative bright spot, as it held up well enough in the winter months while Limitless came back as a much weaker show after the new year.

spring

Year	8:00	8:30	9:00	9:30	10:00	10:30	Avg
2015-16	NCIS		NCIS	NCIS: New Orleans		NCIS: New Orleans	Limitless		Limitless	113
	2015-16	142		142	118		118	78			78	113
2016-17	NCIS		NCIS	Bull		Bull	NCIS: New Orleans		NCIS: New Orleans	103 (-9%)
	2016-17	121 (-15%)		121.287457822711	99 (-16%)		99 (-16%)	89 (+13%)			89 (+13%)	103.065183510405
VsAvg	+13%		0.131596595306026	-1%		-0.0107381528983364	+11%		0.108828424292107	+8%
Rank	8/16		8/16	10/16		10/16	4/16		4/16	8/16

The story was similar in the spring, but NCIS comparisons got even worse with comparisons vs. the final Michael Weatherly episodes. Bull's retention improved somewhat in the spring after This Is Us wrapped, but it was still down at least as much as the mothership.

Rating the Ratings

Name	Lo	Avg	Hi	y2y	Plus	Label	Plusy2y	Results
NCIS*	1.3	1.72	2.2	-22%	140	hit	-8%	detail
Bull	1.1	1.42	2.2		116	solid		detail
NCIS: New Orleans	1.0	1.17	1.5	-33%	95	marginal	-21%	detail

NCIS: By the lofty standards of this 14-year veteran, this is a huge Plus drop, all the way to its lowest level since 2008-09. Some of this could be blamed on the loss of Weatherly but it is still a bit troubling that the trends got worse as the season progressed. It could probably remain viable for awhile at -8% in Plus per season, but it'll become more questionable if the low- to mid-teens pace from the winter/spring shows up again next season. Grade: C.

Bull: It did fine, which I think pretty much everyone was expecting. Nothing more, nothing less. If NBC had actually gone through with moving This Is Us, it would've been an interesting show to watch in the fall against comedies on all three competing networks. Now, it'll probably just keep doing its thing. Grade: B.

NCIS: New Orleans: Yet another veteran moved to the 10/9c hour, but it got just two years at 9/8c compared with the five that LA got. Again, I consult True Plus, which (like Agents of SHIELD and Scorpion) puts this drop at around mid-to-high single digits rather than the 21% in raw. Grade: C+.

The names in this last table link to the shows' War of 18-49 pages. Links with an asterisk(*) have been updated with the new info. Updates to younger shows will come later in the summer.

Here's the now updated Schedules Plus for CBS Tuesday.