CBS’ “Tracker” and ABC’s “High Potential” were the top two most-watched fall TV broadcast premieres, with new season launches seeing gains over their debuts a year ago.
“Tracker” returned strong for its third season with 13 million multiplatform viewers in its first week, up 17% from its premiere last year. And “High Potential” scored 11.9 million multiplatform viewers within seven days (15.9 million with encores), marking a 28% uptick from its series debut last fall, which reached 9.3 million viewers in that timeframe.
The year-over-year ratings gains — which extend from Fox’s “Doc” to ABC’s “Dancing With the Stars” and NBC’s “Chicago” franchise — are an impressive feat for broadcast TV, which, despite an overall decline on linear, saw a notable uptick in viewership in September. According to Nielsen’s Gauge report, which measures TV viewing trends in the U.S. across broadcast, cable and streaming platforms, time spent watching broadcast programming rose 20% month-over-month, marking the largest monthly increase in volume and share for any category since tracking began in May 2021.
Most of that growth is credited to sporting event broadcasts, which deliver the most live audiences, but promising growth for entertainment programming in delayed viewing doesn’t hurt either.
Keep reading for the full rundown of the fall TV premieres across ABC, CBS, NBC and Fox. The ratings reported for each network includes linear and streaming data after seven days of viewing.
ABC
Robert Irwin and Witney Carson in “Dancing With the Stars.” (Disney)
“High Potential,” which stars Kaitlin Olson, ranked as the most-watched premiere on ABC’s fall lineup. “Dancing With the Stars,” which has seen unprecedented ratings growth this season, came in second place with 9.17 million viewers tuning in for its Season 34 premiere.
The series premiere of “9-1-1: Nashville” debuted to 7.82 million viewers, a strong start but not enough to surpass the viewership of 8.3 million that tuned in to the Season 9 premiere of its flagship, “9-1-1,” which kicked off a space adventure for two of its first responders. Both “9-1-1” debuts outpaced the 6.61 million viewers who tuned in for the “Grey’s Anatomy” Season 22 premiere.
On the comedy front, the “Shifting Gears” Season 2 premiere scored 7.57 million viewers, surpassing the viewership of “Abbott Elementary,” which drew 6.64 million viewers. On the unscripted side, “The Golden Bachelor” Season 2 premiere brought in 4.18 million viewers, while “Shark Tank” scored 2.85 million viewers.
NBC
Patrick John Flueger in “Chicago PD.”(Elizabeth Sisson/NBC)
Sticking with yearly trends, the “One Chicago” franchise delivered NBC’s strongest premiere ratings. Flagship “Chicago Fire” led the pack with 8.73 million viewers for its Season 14 opener, with “Chicago P.D.” Season 13 and “Chicago Med” Season 11 following closely with 8.24 million viewers and 8.13 million viewers, respectively.
The Season 51 debut of “SNL,” which followed a cast exodus, came just behind with 8.06 million viewers, drumming up a bigger audience than “Law & Order” Season 25 and “Law & Order: SVU” Season 27, which scored 5.97 million viewers and 7.60 million viewers, respectively. The Season 2 premiere of “Brilliant Minds” scored 4.48 million viewers.
Likewise, “The Voice” scored an audience of 7.6 million viewers for its Season 28 premiere, while new competition series “On Brand With Jimmy Fallon” debuted to 2.96 million viewers.
Fox
Molly Parker and Felicity Huffman in “Doc.”(John Medland/Fox)
Of Fox’s fall TV lineup, “Doc’s” second season premiere was the clear standout, with its live-plus-seven-day viewership reaching 6.8 million, marking a series-high viewership for the medical drama as well as Fox’s largest multiplatform audience of 2025 within that timeframe, with the exception of post-Super Bowl. The premiere has grown to 10.8 million viewers to date across platforms, according to viewership data through Oct. 25.
“Doc” also benefited from a viewership boost after its debut on Netflix, part of a licensing deal with Fox and Sony Pictures Television that enables the streamer to house past seasons while Hulu streams new episodes following their linear release. “Doc” Season 1 landed on Netflix on Sept. 23, the day of Season 2’s premiere on Fox. It also appeared on Netflix’s top 10 TV series list in the No. 10 spot for that week. In that period, the show tallied up 657 million minutes across Netflix and Hulu, according to Nielsen, coming in as the week’s No. 5 acquired title and No. 9 on the overall streaming programs list.
The “Murder in a Small Town” Season 2 premiere scored 3.7 million viewers, soaring ahead of the network’s adult animated content, which was headed up by “Bob’s Burgers” Season 16 with 1.9 million viewers and “The Simpsons” Season 36 with 1.6 million viewers. “Universal Basic Guys” Season 2 drew in 800,000 viewers while “Krapopolis” Season 2 debuted to 733,000 viewers.
Fox scored solid premiere ratings across its unscripted slate, with new show “99 to Beat” debuting to 4.2 million viewers while “The Floor” Season 4 scored 3.3 million viewers. “Hell’s Kitchen” Season 24 and “Special Forces: World’s Toughest Test” Season 4 both debuted to 2.5 million viewers, while “Celebrity Weakest Link” and “Name That Tune” scored 2.3 million viewers and 1.9 million viewers in their first week, respectively.
CBS
Sonequa Martin-Green, Bridget Moynahan and Donnie Wahlberg in “Boston Blue.” (John Medland/CBS)
While “Tracker” was the most-watched CBS premiere by far, it’s no surprise that Kathy Bates-led “Matlock” came in a close second with 9.5 million viewers after seven days of multiplatform viewing. “Blue Bloods” spinoff series “Boston Blue” also scored an impressive debut with 8.6 million viewers, matching the viewership for the new season of “NCIS.”
“Ghosts” and “Georgie and Mandy’s First Marriage” came next with 8.3 million and 7.9 million viewers, respectively, while “Sheriff Country” and “FBI” scored 7.7 million and 7.6 million viewers, respectively. “Elsbeth” scored 7.3 million viewers; both “60 Minutes” and “Survivor” scored 7 million viewers; “Fire Country” garnered 6.8 million viewers and the series premiere of “DMV” scored 6.6 million viewers while “NCIS: Origins” scored 6.5 million viewers.
“The Neighborhood” and “Watson” both debuted to 5.1 million viewers while unscripted series “The Amazing Race” and “The Road” scored 4.5 million and 4.3 million viewers, respectively. “48 Hours,” likewise, debuted to 2.6 million viewers.
The post CBS’ ‘Tracker’ and ABC’s ‘High Potential’ Lead Fall TV Broadcast Premiere Ratings With Solid Growth appeared first on TheWrap.
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