Why ‘Tracker’ and ‘High Potential’ Are Crushing Fall TV Ratings—Is This the Start of a Network Takeover or Just Cosmic Luck?
Added on November 14, 2025 inTV News Cards
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Ah, here we are again — another TV season, another round of “Who’s got the eyeballs?” And just like that stubborn Mercury retrograde that keeps us all second-guessing our texts, CBS’ Tracker and ABC’s High Potential refuse to budge from their throne atop the 2025-26 network ratings charts. It’s as if the stars aligned perfectly to keep these two juggernauts locked in a battle for supremacy, with Tracker almost casually hauling in just under 14 million viewers, leaving High Potential trailing by a mere 1.5 million. Now, doesn’t it make you wonder if the cosmos have a secret favorite show? Meanwhile, High Potential flexes its streaming muscles, dominating the prized 18-49 adult demo like a Leo craving center stage, boasting a 2.42 rating with nearly three-quarters streaming its glow. Throw in longtime fan favorites like Matlock and NCIS, plus NBC’s fiery Chicago Fire, and you’ve got a pretty stellar lineup that’s basically streaming and traditional TV’s version of a celestial dance. So, what’s next in this cosmic ratings saga? Is there a comet bearing the next breakout hit, or will these established stars continue to shine? Hold onto your remotes — the season’s just getting started. LEARN MORE
The top of the network ratings charts for the 2025-26 season so far don’t look much different from how they did last season — which is to say that CBS’ Tracker and ABC’s High Potential are still racking up big audiences.
As it has for each of its first two seasons, Tracker is on pace to be the most-watched network entertainment show (i.e., excluding sports and news programming) of the current season. Through Oct. 26 (the most current available figures), the show has averaged just under 14 million cross-platform viewers over seven days. That’s more than 1.5 million viewers than the second-ranked series … which is High Potential at 12.38 million. The two also ranked first and second for the 2024-25 season (in Nielsen’s longer-tail, 35-day ratings).
High Potential, meanwhile, has a sizable lead among all non-sports and news shows in the key ad sales demographic of adults 18-49. It averages a 2.42 rating over seven days of viewing (equivalent to about 3.29 million people in that age range), with almost three quarters of its total coming via streaming. ABC also notes that High Potential’s Sept. 16 season premiere has grown to 17.23 million viewers and a 3.9 rating among adults 18-49 over five weeks of viewing.
CBS’ Matlock (10.31 million viewers) and NCIS (8.86 million) and NBC’s Chicago Fire (8.62 million) complete the top five shows in total viewers. If sports and news were included, NBC’s Sunday Night Football (21.77 million same-day viewers, not including streaming, from Sept. 22-Oct. 26), ABC’s portion of Monday Night Football (12.11 million) and CBS’ 60 Minutes (8.93 million) would all be in the top five.
Three ABC shows — the resurgent Dancing With the Stars (2.0 rating), Abbott Elementary (1.96) and 911 (1.48) — follow High Potential in the 18-49 rankings, with Tracker in fifth at 1.39.
Viewing patterns look to be fairly consistent with recent years: On average, the top 20 shows are drawing about 22 percent of their seven-day viewer totals from streaming, and a much higher proportion (54 percent) of their adults 18-49 ratings.
The top 20 network entertainment series for the first five weeks of the 2025-26 season are below.
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