TV Odds: Big Bang Off To An Explosive Start In 2017

The glory years of Two and a Half Men may be over, but Chuck Lorre still has a little more winning to do. The Big Bang Theory ended 2016 as the highest-rated show on television, raking in a weekly viewership of just under 20 million.

The Walking Dead led the field when it came to the coveted 18-49 age group, attracting an average of 11.27 million from the key demographic, but it fell short of Big Bang in terms of overall numbers.

CBS swept the year when it came to total viewership. Of the five most-watched shows, four belonged to CBS — The Big Bang Theory; NCIS; Bull; and NCIS: New Orleans. AMC’s The Walking Dead was the only non-CBS show to crack the top five.  

This is a brand new year, but once again The Big Bang Theory is pulling in the big numbers. Will it hold on and claim top spot? Here are the odds.

Odds to end 2017 as the most-watched TV show (total viewership)

The Big Bang Theory: 2/3

Recent ratings had The Big Bang Theory leading in both the 18-49 demographic (3.2 million viewers) and overall (11.9 million viewers). That’s despite pulling in a series-low with its April 13 episode.

The fact that The Big Bang Theory can still dominate when it’s at a low-point establishes it as the odds-on favorite. I’m assuming the low-point isn’t the start of a downward trend for the geeky CBS hit.

NCIS: 3/1

With The Big Bang Theory on break, NCIS was finally allowed its day in the sun. The long-running crime show topped the list in the most recent ratings report. Though it didn’t fare well with the younger demographics (as usual), the overall numbers (16.2 million viewers) were very impressive.

NCIS: New Orleans (13.3 million viewers) placed second, followed by Bull, a legal show featuring former NCIS star Michael Weatherly. NCIS: Los Angeles was fifth on the list, pulling in 11.3 million.

The Walking Dead: 9/1

When it comes to younger viewers, no show comes close to outperforming The Walking Dead (11.3 million viewers). We’ll have to wait until October for the Season 8 premiere, which marks the show’s 100th episode.

Perhaps the show will do more to attract older viewers, but something tells me a post-apocalyptic gore-fest isn’t exactly what retirees are looking for.

Dancing with the Stars: 50/1

In last week’s ratings, Dancing with the Stars was wedged between NCIS, two NCIS spin-offs, and a show featuring a former NCIS star. The ABC dance show was the only thing standing in the way of an NCIS sweep.

The celebrity dance-off didn’t do too well last year, but they’ve got a star-studded list of contestants this year, most notably, Olympic gymnast (and multiple gold medalist) Simone Biles.

Game of Thrones: 100/1

If illegal downloads featured in the Nielsen ratings, then Game of Thrones would probably be the most-watched show of the decade. But obviously, that isn’t the case.

Game of Thrones is one of the few shows that has only gotten more popular over time. But being an HBO show puts it at a huge disadvantage. With the stand-alone streaming service HBO GO recently hitting two million subscribers, maybe it does have a chance.