What’s on ION tonight? Here is the full ION schedule for Thursday, October 29, 2026, with times in Eastern Time (ET).

ION on Thursday: FBI from lunchtime to midnight

See also: What's on tonight across all channels | Wednesday's TV guide

ION does not do variety. Tonight it is FBI from 10am ET onward with one short break, and the interesting question is not what to watch but where to join. Join at 7pm ET, with the Season 8 opener, and you can follow the evening in order.

Start at 7pm ET with the season opener

The 7pm ET slot is flagged as the start of Season 8: “Takeover”, S08E01. The series is a 2018 American crime drama that originally aired on CBS, with 9 series and 158 episodes to date, and a cast that includes Missy Peregrym, Jeremy Sisto, Sela Ward, Zeeko Zaki and Alana de la Garza. If you have been meaning to catch up, an opener is the natural place to jump in, and ION puts it straight into primetime.

From there the schedule runs in order: “Captured” at 8pm ET (S08E02), “Boy Scout” at 9pm ET (S08E03), “Manifest” at 10pm ET (S08E04) and “Falsetto” at 11pm ET (S08E05). That is five consecutive episodes of the new season across five hours. “Captured” is the pick: it is the first episode in primetime proper, and it follows straight on from the opener. Four stars for the opener and for “Captured”, three for “Boy Scout”.

What FBI is up against

At 8pm ET FBI faces 9-1-1 on ABC, Georgie & Mandy’s First Marriage on CBS and The Real Housewives of Orange County on Bravo. At 9pm ET it faces 9-1-1: Nashville and Ghosts. At 10pm ET the field is smaller, with Grey’s Anatomy on ABC and Cupertino on CBS. None of those is a procedural, so ION is the answer for anyone who wants one all evening.

A second chance to start from the beginning

The afternoon is a different offer. At 2pm ET the schedule goes back to the very start with “Pilot” (S01E01), then runs “Green Birds”, “Prey”, “Crossfire” and “Doomsday” through to 7pm ET. That means you can watch the first five episodes of the series in order and then roll straight into the Season 8 premiere. It is a neat bit of programming. Three stars for the Pilot, which is a catch-up tool, not a showpiece.

The morning is more FBI, with four episodes from Season 7 between 10am and 2pm ET. NCIS fills the early hours, with four episodes of Season 17 from 6am to 10am ET.

Overnight

Blue Bloods leads the overnight, with three Season 7 episodes from midnight to 3am ET, and then Paid Program and Through the Bible with Les Feldick until 6am.

FBI airs twice today, NCIS twice and Blue Bloods twice, which tells you exactly what ION is for. It is not a surprise channel, and it does not want to be.


Also on TV tonight at 8pm ET

  • ABC: 9-1-1
  • NBC: The Traitors: New Blood
  • CBS: Georgie & Mandy’s First Marriage
  • FOX: Hell’s Kitchen
  • PBS: This Old House
  • The CW: Scrabble
  • TCM: The Beguiled
  • AMC: It (from 6pm ET)
  • FX: Black Panther: Wakanda Forever (from 5:30pm ET)
  • Freeform: Monsters University (from 6:05pm ET)

Every channel tonight, side by side · Movies on TV this week · Tomorrow’s TV


Frequently asked questions

What’s on ION tonight?

On Thursday, October 29, 2026, ION shows FBI at 8pm ET, FBI at 9pm ET and FBI at 10pm ET.

Is there a movie on ION tonight?

No. ION has no movies in its evening schedule on Thursday, October 29, 2026.

What’s on ION late tonight?

After 11pm ET, ION has FBI at 11pm ET.

What time does ION’s evening start?

The evening schedule starts with FBI at 6pm ET.