Survey: America's favorite TV shows are not what you think

It’s often reported which TV shows are the most watched and highest rated. But which programs are America’s favorites?

Harris Poll recently surveyed U.S. viewers of varying age, sex, location, and political affiliation and asked which current TV series are their favorites to watch. The results contain many titles from Nielsen’s most-watched list, yet the entire rundown of answers might surprise you.

The No. 1 choice is CBS’ NCIS, which doesn’t receive much media buzz and is often assumed to be a show that has less active viewer engagement than more buzzy titles (not to mention, it gets mocked plenty for having an older-skewing audience). Yet not only is it heavily watched, the crime procedural ranked in the top three among favorite shows of nearly every demographic—including Millennials. No. 2 was another CBS title, The Big Bang Theory (CBS was so happy with this survey the network sent out a press release about it, but a rep said Harris ordered this poll independently). Here are the top 10:

NCIS (CBS)

The Big Bang Theory (CBS)

The Walking Dead (AMC)

Scandal (ABC)

Game of Thrones (HBO)

The Good Wife (CBS) and The Blacklist (NBC) — tied at #6

Modern Family (ABC)

Blue Bloods (CBS)

Criminal Minds (CBS)

Note this poll was in the field in January, so it was before Fox’s breakout new hit Empire was released.

Now let’s look at some demos: