CBS kicked off its fall 2026 TV season the week of Oct. 4 with a strong performance for its new and returning series, according to Nielsen live+7 multiplatform data.
Per that data, CBS’ premiere week averaged 8.63 million viewers — up 14% from its premiere week in 2025 (the week of Oct. 12). Leading the charge was the return of “Marshals,” which was the No. 1 entertainment show for the week (15.14 million viewers) in both linear and streaming. That was followed by “Tracker,” with 13.86 million viewers. “Marshals” and “Tracker” were also the week’s two most-watched shows in streaming alone.
Meanwhile, “Sheriff Country,” returning for a second season, hit a new series high, with 10.518 viewers — up 27% from its series premiere last year — and “NCIS” returned with 10.59 million viewers for its Season 24 premiere, up 23% from its season premiere last year.
Overall, if you take out sports, CBS reports pulling off seven of the week’s top 10 series in L+7 multiplatform viewing across linear and streaming. That includes “Marshals,” “Tracker,” “60 Minutes,” “NCIS,” “Sheriff Country,” “NCIS: New York” and “FBI.” When just broadcast is tallied, CBS has eight of the top 10 shows, with “Georgie & Mandy’s First Marriage” also in the mix.
Besides “NCIS” and “Sheriff Country,” other shows with year-to-year growth during CBS’ premiere week included “NCIS: New York” (up 58% from last year’s time period premiere for “NCIS: Origins,” to 10.52 million), “FBI” (up 18% to 8.93 million), “Georgie & Mandy’s First Wedding” (up 11% to 8.70 million), “Fire Country” (up 7% to 7.96 million), “Survivor” (up 13% to 7.94 million), “NCIS: Origins” (up 19% to 7.75 million), “Elsbeth” (up 5% to 7.69 million), “The Amazing Race” (up 6% to 4.82 million) and “Harlan Coben’s Final Twist” (up 29% to 3.15 million).
Meanwhile, among new series, “Cupertino” saw a big lift in delayed viewing, averaging 7.17 million viewers in L+7 multiplatform — up from 3.19 million in live+same day.
Here’s the ranker from CBS:
Source: Analysis of Nielsen Multiplatform Data; Big Data P2+ Prime, L+7, Sunday, Oct. 4 — Saturday Oct. 10, 2026+ Nielsen SCR, 7-Day Total Flight for streaming. Does not include specials, encores or sports. For streaming series, only premiere episodes of new programs airing during the date range are included.
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