{"id":484236,"date":"2026-06-05T08:44:14","date_gmt":"2026-06-05T08:44:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/484236\/"},"modified":"2026-06-05T08:44:14","modified_gmt":"2026-06-05T08:44:14","slug":"2025-26-tv-season-ratings-wrap-up-netflix-and-cbs-dominate-as-new-favorites-emerge","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/484236\/","title":{"rendered":"2025-26 TV Season Ratings Wrap Up: Netflix and CBS Dominate as New Favorites Emerge"},"content":{"rendered":"

While NBC\u2019s Super Bowl and Olympics programming gave<\/a> the network its first ratings crown since 2002, the top seven shows of this TV season came from CBS\/Paramount and Netflix, according to multiplatform viewing data through mid-April.<\/p>\n

While it\u2019s no surprise that Netflix holds onto its viewership lead with tentpole juggernauts like \u201cStranger Things\u201d<\/a> and \u201cBridgerton\u201d<\/a> and twisty series like \u201cHis & Hers\u201d and \u201cThe Beast in Me,\u201d CBS\/Paramount\u2019s domination \u2014 via the expansion of the \u201cYellowstone\u201d universe and series like \u201cTracker\u201d and \u201cMatlock\u201d \u2014 prove the older, linear-focused audience is not to be undercounted.<\/p>\n

CBS content has proven to capture the older broadcast demo year-after-year, but, when putting together the top shows across linear and streaming, Netflix only soars past CBS\/Paramount with its biggest shows, with plenty other series neck-in-neck for viewers. In fact, CBS was home to eight of the top 25 most-watched programs, while Netflix was home to seven. And if you add in Paramount+\u2019s \u201cLandman\u201d from Taylor Sheridan, Paramount\u2019s number of shows in the top 25 expands to nine.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

\u201cStranger Things\u201d led the pack with 32.9 million viewers, per Nielsen live-plus-35-day figures from Sept. 14 through April 12, as it closed out its five-season run. (It should be noted that these figures run through April 12, so a handful of broadcast finales were not included in this tally).<\/p>\n

The Duffer Brothers-created drama soared well beyond its closest competitor, but, impressively, it was four new series that filled out the top five shows for the season. Netflix\u2019s murder mystery \u201cHis & Hers\u201d came second with 25.6 million viewers, \u201cYellowstone\u201d spinoff \u201cMarshals\u201d scored 20.7 million viewers, Diddy doc \u201cSean Combs: The Reckoning\u201d logged 20.6 million viewers and \u201cLandman\u201d scored 19.8 million viewers.<\/p>\n

Still, established favorites like \u201cBridgerton\u201d and \u201cTracker\u201d followed with 18.3 million viewers and 16.4 million viewers, respectively, though \u201cMarshals\u201d officially knocked out \u201cTracker\u201d as broadcast\u2019s top TV show.<\/p>\n

\"Bridgerton\"<\/p>\n

Yerin Ha as Sophie Baek, Luke Thompson as Benedict Bridgerton in \u201cBridgerton\u201d (Liam Daniel\/Netflix)<\/p>\n

While other buzzy shows like ABC\u2019s \u201cHigh Potential,\u201d HBO Max\u2019s \u201cThe Pitt\u201d and Prime Video\u2019s \u201cFallout,\u201d made it into the top 11 series, it was by and large shows from Paramount and Netflix that were the most eye-catching for viewers, with the companies holding down 15 of the top 20 shows for the season combined. Third place went to ABC\/Disney, which saw \u201cHigh Potential,\u201d \u201cThe Rookie\u201d and \u201cWill Trent\u201d take up three spots in the top 20.<\/p>\n

Also of note: Of the top 25 shows, only two were comedies, both from CBS: \u201cGhosts\u201d with 10.5 million viewers and \u201cYoung Sheldon\u201d spinoff \u201cGeorgie & Mandy\u2019s First Marriage\u201d with 9.9 million viewers, further cementing the high bar<\/a> to make it as a comedy nowadays.<\/p>\n

Notably, \u201cGhosts\u201d is among the top series that won\u2019t be returning until 2027, with the exception of several holiday-themed specials. Top broadcast favorites \u201cMatlock\u201d and \u201cHigh Potential\u201d will, likewise, also not be returning until midseason, opening the door for other shows to fill the gap.<\/p>\n

\u2018SNL\u2019 wraps with ratings high<\/p>\n

\u201cSaturday Night Live\u201d closed out the TV season as the No. 1 broadcast comedy series in the 18-49 demo and No. 3 among all entertainment series, per Nielsen live-plus-seven-day figures for the season, marking the seventh consecutive season that the NBC show has dominated the demo.<\/p>\n

The ratings standout this season was the Dec. 20 episode<\/a> hosted by Ariana Grande and with musical guest Cher, which racked up both the biggest audience of the season across all platforms with 10.1 million as well as the most social views. On Peacock alone, the most-watched telecast was the Oct. 4 season premiere with host Bad Bunny and musical guest Doja Cat.<\/p>\n

\"snl-ariana-grande-monologue-bowen-yang\"<\/p>\n

Bowen Yang crashed Ariana Grande\u2019s \u201cSNL\u201d monologue on his final episode (NBC)<\/p>\n

NBA playoffs score ratings milestone<\/p>\n

The NBA playoffs made a solid return to NBC and debut on Peacock with Game 7 of the Western Conference Final between the San Antonio Spurs and Oklahoma City Thunder scoring the most-watched conference finals game in 10 years with 15.9 million viewers. Total audience delivery was up 72% over comparable 2025 coverage.<\/p>\n

\u201c20\/20\u201d finishes strong<\/p>\n

ABC News\u2019 \u201c20\/20\u201d closed out the 2025-26 broadcast season as Friday\u2019s No. 1\u00a0newsmagazine\u00a0for the fifth\u00a0consecutive broadcast season, pushing past \u201cDateline\u201d with a 12% bigger audience. Per most current Nielsen ratings, \u201c20\/20\u201d averaged 3.7 million viewers, growing 5% from its audience averaged by the previous season.<\/p>\n

ICYMI:<\/p>\n

Prime Video has launched<\/a> weekly viewership charts reflecting its most-watched TV shows and films \u2014 without numbers<\/p>\n

Sacha Baron Cohen and Rosamund Pike\u2019s gender-swap comedy \u201c\u2018Ladies First\u201d climbed<\/a> atop Netflix\u2019s top movies list with 19 million views<\/p>\n

\u201cThe Tonight Show\u00a0Starring Jimmy Fallon\u201d scored<\/a> its best audience since February, thanks to a visit from the stars of buzzy romance series \u201cOff Campus,\u201d TheWrap revealed exclusively<\/p>\n

CBS\u2019 \u201cMarshals\u201d officially eclipsed<\/a> \u201cTracker\u201d as the top broadcast series<\/p>\n

The post 2025-26 TV Season Ratings Wrap Up: Netflix and CBS Dominate as New Favorites Emerge<\/a> appeared first on TheWrap<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"While NBC\u2019s Super Bowl and Olympics programming gave the network its first ratings crown since 2002, the top…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":484237,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[29],"tags":[93,61,60,1868,12187,3282,107625,282,208286],"class_list":["post-484236","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-tv","tag-entertainment","tag-ie","tag-ireland","tag-netflix","tag-oklahoma-city-thunder","tag-paramount","tag-san-antonio-spurs","tag-tv","tag-tv-season"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/484236","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=484236"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/484236\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/484237"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=484236"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=484236"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=484236"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}