CBS Renews NCIS For 11th Season

It was a no-brainer really: CBS has officially renewed NCIS for an 11th series.

The top-rated drama on American television has just been handed an 11th series by broadcaster CBS. After ratings for a recent episode topped 25 million viewers its hardly surprising. In fact recent episodes in general have been topping 20 million viewers recently proving the NCIS remains just as popular with television viewers now as it ever was.

“In a world gone niche, NCIS keeps getting bigger, and Mark Harmon continues to define the role of leading man on the #1 show on television. NCIS is the type of franchise every company wants in today’s global content ecosystem – high-quality storytelling that generates passionate viewers and drives revenue on every conceivable platform.” – Leslie Moonves

NCIS stars Mark Harmon, Abby Sciuto, Tony DiNozzo, Timothy McGee and British actor David McCallum. It launched in September 2003 and so far has produced over 200 episodes. The drama was spun-off from the long-running JAG which was created by Donald P. Bellisario and originally launched on NBC in 1995 before transferring to CBS in 1997.

JAG came to an end in 2005 after 10 seasons and 227 episodes but the franchise continues to live on. NCIS has spawned its own spin-off NCIS: Los Angeles which is currently in its fourth season, having launched in 2009, and regularly tops 18 million viewers. CBS is eying up a spin-off from NCIS: Los Angeles with a “back-door” pilot likely to air later this year. If the spin-off is picked it up it is believed it will be the first fourth generation spin-off or in other-words a spin-off from a spin-off from a spin-off!

NCIS airs on Channel 5 & spin-off stations as well as digital channel Fox (formerly FX) in the UK