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Regular old CBS can still make new hits.
That’s the takeaway from Nielsen’s report on the 100 most-watched primetime broadcast and cable series of the 2023-24 season (via Variety), which lists the freshman drama series “Tracker” as TV’s top non-sports program. It’s the first time a new series has been the No. 1 show since “Survivor” in 2000, per CBS.
“Tracker” capitalized on its coveted post-Super Bowl series premiere slot and lack of new series competition in the midst of a strike-disrupted broadcast season, averaging 10.8 million total viewers per episode in Season 1 on the way to becoming the most-watched new series since “Desperate Housewives” in 2024-25. The series, which stars “This Is Us” veteran Justin Hartley as a survivalist who helps find missing persons, beat out second-place drama “NCIS” by more than a million viewers.
CBS also has the year’s top comedy series, the final season of “Young Sheldon.” The “Big Bang Theory” spinoff averaged 9.1 million viewers, good for sixth place overall.
Of course, nothing is as popular as football. The NFL owns the top three slots. NBC’s “Sunday Night Football” is the overall No. 1, averaging nearly 20 million viewers per broadcast, followed by ABC’s “Monday Night Football” and Amazon’s “Thursday Night Football,” which Nielsen measures as if it were a broadcast show.
The top-rated cable series is History’s treasure-hunting reality series “The Curse of Oak Island” at No. 77 with 3.27 million viewers. The only scripted series on cable to crack the top 100 is Hallmark’s “When Calls the Heart,” at No. 89, with 2.78 million viewers.
Here’s the top 10:
“NFL Sunday Night Football” (NBC) – 19.84m viewers
“NFL Monday Night Football” (ABC) – 11.99m viewers
“NFL Thursday Night Football” (Prime Video) – 11.97m viewers
“Tracker” (CBS) – 10.8m viewers
“NCIS” (CBS) – 9.67m viewers
“Young Sheldon” (CBS) – 9.1m viewers
“FBI” (CBS) – 8.97m viewers
“Chicago Fire” (NBC) – 8.79m viewers
“Blue Bloods” (CBS) – 8.45m viewers
“60 Minutes” (CBS) – 8.27m viewers
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