'The Good Doctor' Wins the Fall as TV's No. 1 New Show

The Good Doctor is having one of the most stellar seasons by a new show. The medical drama has excelled in all the metrics used by the Nielsen Company to rate the success of TV shows, and last night's season finale even doubled the viewership of the competition.

Nielsen's most current data crowns The Good Doctor as the most-watched drama on TV this fall. This means that, in its first year, the show is beating out competitors such as NCIS and This Is Us on a weekly basis.

On top of that, the winter finale of The Good Doctor had 9.4 million live viewers, literally twice as many as the 4.7 million people who watched The Wall holiday special on NBC. That's just the tip of the iceberg. The Good Doctor has succeeded consistently for ABC throughout the season, exceeding every expectation and gaining ground at every turn. The show benefits a lot from the Live +7 rating used by Nielsen, which accounts for viewers who watch the program in the week following its broadcast, whether on demand or through a DVR recording.

Early reports show that The Good Doctor beat out both Big Bang Theory and Young Sheldon in the first half of the season. The two CBS shows come with a lot of clout and a built in audience, so they're expected to perform better than a freshman fluke for the network. At this rate, the story of the 17-year-old surgeon can not only be expected to return for future seasons, but possibly earn itself an earlier time-slot.

Another good sign for the show is the demographic breakdown of its audience. The Good Doctor is especially popular among adults between 18 and 49. This means that advertisers will see a lot of value in the show, hopefully keeping it well-funded in the years to come.