CBS is claiming an early victory on the 2024-25 television season as it races toward the finish line as the most-watched broadcast network for the 17th consecutive season.
Per Nielsen “Most Current” data, CBS has been averaging 4.99M viewers in primetime this season after seven days of viewing, excluding sports, which puts it at a 14% increase year-over-year. Season-to-date, CBS boasts the top seven shows on broadcast, including Tracker at No. 1, averaging 10.84M viewers per episode.
The network’s new offerings are also performing quite well. Matlock is poised to become the second most-watched broadcast series of the TV season with 9.53M viewers per episode. Georgie & Mandy’s First Marriage is also on the rankings at No. 5, averaging 7.98M viewers per episode.
Speaking of new shows, Watson and NCIS: Origins are also off to strong starts. They are among the Top 5 most-watched new shows of the 2024-25 broadcast season. Only ABC’s High Potential could hold a flame to CBS’ latest additions to its schedule.
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Perhaps unsurprisingly, a few of the broadcaster’s long-running, hugely popular series — FBI, 60 Minutes, NCIS and Blue Bloods — are also in the Top 7.
When you add in Elsbeth, which is No. 9 among the Top 10 broadcast series of the season, CBS claims eight of those spots. NBC eked out the other two with Chicago Fire (No. 8) and Chicago Med (No. 10).
It seems like Ghosts has lost a bit of its popularity this season, averaging about 7.29M viewers per episode, but that still puts it as the 11th most-watched show of the broadcast season. In fact, CBS lays claim to 13 of the Top 20 shows of the season.
This officially breaks broadcast’s longest winning streak on record, besting a milestone previously reached by CBS from 1955-1970. In all, this is CBS’ 22nd winning season in terms of average total primetime viewership in the last 23 years.
Nielsen uses a combination of 7-day, 3-day and same-day viewership data to formulate its “Most Current” numbers, based on the longest period of time available for each episode. In this case, 7-day data is available for all episodes aired on or before April 14. Nielsen is using 3-day data for episodes that aired between April 15 to 17 and live + same-day numbers from episodes from April 19 and 20.
The post CBS Claims Victory With 17th Consecutive Season As Most-Watched Broadcaster; ‘Tracker’ Leads The Way Again In Season 2, ‘Matlock’ In Second Place appeared first on Deadline.
