Justin Hartley’s Tracker Wins Ratings War, Surpassing Yellowstone & NCIS

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As we approach midway through the 2025 television schedule, it indicates that the viewership data for the 2024-2025 season’s top shows have been compiled. The leaderboard topper might not come as a surprise, but Justin Hartley’s CBS series, Tracker, managed an unexpected victory, with only one other prime-time drama, Yellowstone, achieving a similar feat in recent times.

It is not surprising that both the NFL and NCAA football have significant viewership, and it comes as no surprise that CBS led in programming, with 14 of the top 20 non-sports audiences on television, according to TVLine. Now, let’s delve into how Tracker‘s second season defied expectations and surpassed its successful first year.

Tracker Came In Second Only To Annual Champ Sunday NIght Football

Straight from the heart as a movie critic: Without mincing words, the inaugural season of “Tracker” truly stole the spotlight for CBS. It was a veritable magnet for audiences, eagerly tuning in to witness Justin Hartley’s grand TV debut following his stellar run on “This Is Us.” The season averaged an impressive 10.84 million viewers, making it the most-watched drama of the 2023-2024 season. However, it should be noted that it found itself trailing behind ABC’s perennial favorite, Monday Night Football, which held the number two spot.

However, the tides have shifted for at least a year, as Tracker’s second season drew an average of 11 million viewers per episode (including delayed viewing within seven days). This impressive viewership is likely why CBS granted it an early season renewal along with other successful series.

On an average, Monday Night Football attracted approximately 10.3 million viewers, placing it in the third position among other shows. My apologies, gentlemen.

Tracker Is The Only Drama To Top Both NFL And NCIS Besides Yellowstone Since 2017

In a remarkable turn of events, it’s seldom that something manages to outperform both primetime NFL games and shows like NCIS in terms of total viewers. However, this is doubly rare for a drama series. During the 2022-2023 season, Yellowstone achieved this feat, making history as the first cable series to pull off such a victory since The Walking Dead’s extended run on AMC back in 2017-2018. Interestingly, another drama, This Is Us, reached the second spot in viewership during that earlier period, featuring Justin Hartley. If only Hartley had been part of Yellowstone at some point, he might well be regarded as the Holy Grail of TV ratings.

As a devoted fan, I must say that when it comes to scripted dramas, NCIS is usually my first choice, the top dog that everyone else seems to be chasing. There have been instances where The Big Bang Theory or even the comeback of Roseanne garnered larger audiences, but McGee & Co. consistently rule the roost in the hour-long series category.

As a cinephile reflecting on the early renewal of “Tracker” for its third season, I can’t help but rewind to Justin Hartley’s intriguing comments about the challenges involved in producing this show. He once expressed that under normal circumstances, making “Tracker” should be considered impossible.

To clarify a couple of points, “Monday Night Football” was exclusively on ESPN for many years, where it wasn’t as dominant in the ratings compared to its past glory, and it didn’t return to ABC in a broad manner until 2022. Before that shift, CBS had some victories with “Thursday Night Football”, but its broadcasts were inconsistent due to sharing rights with the NFL Network.

Given all factors, the success of Tracker’s ratings has me eagerly anticipating Luke Grimes’ Yellowstone spinoff airing on CBS this Fall, as I can’t wait for Taylor Sheridan’s universe and NCIS’ dramatic rivalry from the past decade to clash. While I lean towards Sheridan’s universe, Hartley might surprise us by emerging victorious. However, we must endure a few more months until Season 3 arrives first.

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2025-06-04 00:08