CBS Renew/Cancel Week 2: Prospects Dim For CIA’s Franchise Potential

The Ratings Junkie

Welcome to Week 2 of CBS Renew/Cancel for the 2026-27 TV season. All Paramount+ peaks listed are as reported in our weekly What's Trending on Streaming column, and is collected directly from Paramount+ daily at 2 pm Eastern Time. All A18-49 and viewership data is sourced from Nielsen. Let us know what you think in the comments and by voting below!

Week 2 Predictions

This week, Elsbeth escapes cancelation territory and is bumped up to a Leans Renew prediction. However, CIA and Cupertino join FBI in the Leans Cancel column. Eternally Yours gets bumped down to Likely Cancel after missing out on Paramount+'s Top 10 again. Meanwhile, Tracker has been upgraded to Certain Renew after a strong second showing.

That means of the six shows on CBS's schedule that premiered this calendar year -- CIA, Cupertino, Eternally Yours, Harlan Coben's Final Twist, Marshals, and NCIS: New York -- only the latter two are currently predicted to return in the 2027-28 TV season.

Elsbeth & Cupertino

After an alarming first week that saw Elsbeth miss Paramount+'s Top 10 entirely, Elsbeth rebounded to familiar territory this week with a #8 peak. That's an identical peak and network rank as its second episode last season. It remains to be seen where it registered in the linear ratings in its second week, though preliminary reports show a steep decline from its premiere.

While none of this is particularly remarkable for Elsbeth, it's helped by the fact that the Kings' other drama, Cupertino, failed to chart this week and is the network's lowest-rated scripted show in linear viewership. CBS has been creatively marketing Cupertino as "the show that's redefining television" and touting a 100% certified fresh score on Rotten Tomatoes, and shying away from boasts about its actual commercial performance. It's highly unlikely CBS will cancel both due to their relationship with the Kings and desire to hold onto critically acclaimed series, and right now the edge has to go to the more established and better-performing Elsbeth.

FBI & CIA

CIA has arguably been the biggest disappointment of the first two weeks of CBS's season. Unlike Cupertino, this is a show with clear franchise potential. CBS had to have been thinking as much when they stripped the Dick Wolf series of the FBI branding before ordering it to series, then renewed it despite lackluster linear ratings and tight schedule space.

To its credit, CIA is up in both linear viewership and the L+SD A18-49 demo from its first season, when it aired at 10 pm. It has completely collapsed on Paramount+ though, where it peaked at #10 in its first week this season and missed the chart entirely the next. This is a far cry below the #4 peak it enjoyed for the second episode of its first season, which is also around where it peaked for most of its first season. While a #4 peak was behind seven CBS shows that peaked within the top three, being tied for eighth is still a far more desirable spot than where it is now.

Unlike Cupertino and Elsbeth, it's hard to see a scenario where CIA underperforming actually helps FBI. The latter still has to overcome being a partially owned series vying for a tenth season after wrapping up a three-season renewal. It's possible, but it's not the most likely option CBS will take. The attempt to launch CIA as a franchise is the best usage possible of FBI, but it's just not working out the way they would have hoped.

NCIS: Origins and NCIS: New York

Two weeks into the season, NCIS: Origins is over-performing in every way imaginable. Its #6 peak on Paramount+ is something once only thought possible if the episode was a crossover with NCIS. Despite being downgraded from 9 pm to 10 pm, it's become the network's highest-rated 10 pm series and is up 41% in the A18-49 demo from its opening two weeks last season.

While it's too early to make any foregone conclusions, it appears as though NCIS: New York is actually bringing new life into the NCIS franchise. Its ratings are starting to align with the level of infatuation CBS has given to the brand over the past couple years. Perhaps they'll come back down to earth once the NBA season starts...or perhaps NCIS: Sydney really was that much of a damper on this lineup. We'll find out soon enough, but NCIS: Sydney better hope the answer isn't the latter.

For now, NCIS: Origins and NCIS: New York are in very comfortable positions. If they can keep this up in coming weeks, further upgrades will be fully warranted.

Last Week's Poll Results

According to last week's reader poll results, a wide majority of 73% of poll respondents expect FBI to be renewed.

Voters were split when asked where Cupertino will peak on Paramount+'s Top 10 this past week, with a small plurality of 32% voting that it would peak in the #7-#10 range. Just 21% of poll respondents correctly predicted that Cupertino would fail to chart.

When asked to compare Cupertino with CBS's recently-canceled drama Watson, an overwhelming majority of 82% say they personally like Cupertino better.

This Week's Polls

Interactive Schedule

The below fillable schedule allows you to make and share your own predictions. Select the prediction category at the bottom to change the color scheme, then fill in the box with the show to fill out your predictions. You can then share them in the comments or on social media by selecting Save Screenshot and Download.

The TV Ratings Guide	8:00	8:30	9:00	9:30	10:00
Mon	FBI		CIA		Harlan Coben's Final Twist
Tues	NCIS		NCIS: New York		NCIS: Origins
Wed	Survivor			The Amazing Race
Thurs	Georgie & Mandy's First Marriage	Eternally Yours	Elsbeth		Cupertino
Fri	Sheriff Country		Fire Country		Boston Blue
Sun	Marshals		Tracker		Encores