EXCLUSIVE: The NCIS franchise is back to heating things up for CBS on Tuesday nights.

The lineup delivered the broadcaster the top finish during Tuesday’s primetime window, averaging 5.49 million viewers, up 39% from last year’s premiere Tuesday.

That’s thanks in part to the launch of NCIS: New York. The series premiere, which welcomes back LL Cool J as Sam Hanna and Scott Caan and Nick Schaeffer, delivered 5.62 million viewers in the 9 p.m. hour. That is up 53% year-over-year in the time period, which was previously occupied by NCIS: Origins.

New York was second only to the stalwart original, whose Season 24 debut raked in 6.45 million viewers to become the series’ most-watched episode in more than two years, since the Season 21 finale in May 2024. The audience was also up 21% year-over-year.

While NCIS: Origins might’ve been the least-watched of the three, it was a heavyweight in its time period. The Season 3 premiere tallied 4.39 million viewers in the 10 p.m. hour, up 20% compared to its year-ago premiere in the 9 p.m. hour and 56% from the year-ago time-period premiere of NCIS: Sydney.

All three shows had some big milestones to offer. In addition to the return of LL Cool J and Caan, Michael Weatherly also rejoined the flagship series this season as Anthony “Tony” DiNozzo Jr. On Origins, Mark Harmon joined the cast as Leroy Jethro Gibbs.