Tag: Tracker

Now that the 2025-26 television season has wrapped up, it's time once again to take a look at TV and Streaming's most popular shows of the year. For the second consecutive season, Nielsen has released its multi-platform data showing how various media outlets compare per episode over a 35-day period, along with a clearer picture than ever of how well each show performed over the TV season as a whole. The results include delayed viewing through DVRs and VOD services, with the measurement date range from September 14, 2025 through April 12, 2026. This season's big headline on the Broadcast side is a changing of the guard at the top. NBC has dethroned CBS as the most-watched Network in primetime for the first time since 2001-02, finishing the season with an average of 5.83 million viewers per episode — up approximately 14% on last year. The turnaround was driven in no small part by what the network itself has called its "legendary February," which included the Milan-Cortina Winter Olympics, Super Bowl LX, and the NBA All-Star Game. CBS comes in second with 4.63 million viewers, followed by ABC (4.33 million) and FOX (3.7 million). It should be noted that these figures include sports programming — the primary reason NBC has leapfrogged CBS! — and that CBS continues to lead on the entertainment side, with more shows in the multiplatform Top 25 than any other broadcaster. On Streaming, the most popular show of the season, by an enormous margin, is the final season of Stranger Things, with a remarkable 32.9 million views per episode. That's nearly 6 million more than last year's runaway leader, Squid Game (27.1 million), and a full 7.3 million ahead of the second-place show. The runner-up is Netflix's limited murder mystery series His & Hers with 25.6 million views per episode. RELATED | How Popular is Your Show: 2024/25 Broadcast & Streaming Rankings Revealed On Broadcast, CBS shows again dominate, but with a new name at the top. Marshals (20.7 million), the Yellowstone spinoff starring Luke Grimes, storms straight to number one in its debut season, displacing last year's champion Tracker (16.4 million), which slips to second. ABC's High Potential returns strongly in third place with 16.0 million views per episode. All broadcast data includes views from streaming platforms belonging to the Network, so views from Paramount+ contribute to CBS, while views from Peacock contribute to NBC, and so on. One of the most striking takeaways from this year's data is the continued strength of Broadcast in the face of streaming competition. Eight Broadcast shows again appear in the top 25 most watched shows across all platforms this season, matching last year's showing. Of those eight, six come from CBS and two from ABC. Meanwhile Netflix continues to dominate the Streaming landscape, placing seven shows in the multiplatform top 15. TOP 10 SHOWS ON STREAMING Streaming ratings for the 2025-26 TV season RANKSHOWSTREAMERMILLIONS OF VIEWS PER EPISODE1STRANGER THINGSNETFLIX32.92HIS & HERSNETFLIX25.63SEAN COMBS: THE RECKONINGNETFLIX20.64LANDMANPARAMOUNT+19.85BRIDGERTONNETFLIX18.36THE PITTHBO MAX13.87MONSTER: THE ED GEIN STORYNETFLIX13.48FALLOUTPRIME VIDEO13.39THE BEAST IN MENETFLIX12.710THE LINCOLN LAWYERNETFLIX11.4 TOP 20 SHOWS ON BROADCAST Broadcast Network ratings for the 2025-26 TV season RANKSHOWNETWORKMILLIONS OF VIEWS PER EPISODE1MARSHALSCBS20.72TRACKERCBS16.43HIGH POTENTIALABC16.04MATLOCKCBS11.55SHERIFF COUNTRYCBS10.86THE ROOKIEABC10.67GHOSTSCBS10.58WILL TRENTABC10.49NCISCBS10.010CHICAGO FIRENBC9.910 (TIED)GEORGIE & MANDY'S FIRST MARRIAGECBS9.912DANCING WITH THE STARSABC9.812 (TIED)SURVIVOR 50CBS9.814CHICAGO P.D.NBC9.314 (TIED)CHICAGO MEDNBC9.316ELSBETHCBS9.217CIACBS8.917 (TIED)FBICBS8.919LAW & ORDER: SVUNBC8.719 (TIED)SCRUBSABC8.7 TOP 20 SHOWS, ALL PLATFORMS Multiplatform ratings for the 2025-26 TV season RANKSHOWNETWORK/STREAMERMILLIONS OF VIEWS PER EPISODE1STRANGER THINGSNETFLIX32.92HIS & HERSNETFLIX25.63MARSHALSCBS/PARAMOUNT+20.74SEAN COMBS: THE RECKONINGNETFLIX20.65LANDMANPARAMOUNT+19.86BRIDGERTONNETFLIX18.37TRACKERCBS/PARAMOUNT+16.48HIGH POTENTIALABC/HULU/DISNEY+16.09THE PITTHBO MAX13.810MONSTER: THE ED GEIN STORYNETFLIX13.411FALLOUTPRIME VIDEO13.312THE BEAST IN MENETFLIX12.713MATLOCKCBS/PARAMOUNT+11.514THE LINCOLN LAWYERNETFLIX11.415SHERIFF COUNTRYCBS/PARAMOUNT+10.816THE ROOKIEABC/HULU/DISNEY+10.617GHOSTSCBS/PARAMOUNT+10.518WILL TRENTABC/HULU/DISNEY+10.419THE MADISONPARAMOUNT+10.220NCISCBS/PARAMOUNT+10.0 Source: Analysis of Nielsen Multiplatform Data; Big Data P2+ Prime AA, L+35, 9/14/2025–4/12/2026 + Nielsen SCR, 35-Day Total Flight for streaming. Does not include series with less than 4 telecasts, sports or specials.

Tag: Tracker

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