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CBS Crushed The Competition With Tracker And Matlock, But I’m More Impressed By The Audience Sizes For Its Cancelled Shows

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At this typical time of year for TV network renewals or cancellations, CBS made early decisions regarding many shows in their 2025 schedule. Remarkably, nine series were renewed all at once towards the end of February, with Watson receiving its good news a bit later. However, some shows were unfortunately cancelled, even though they ranked among the Top 20 most-watched network shows during the 2024-2025 season so far. The performances of Tracker and Matlock have been exceptional, but I’m particularly interested in the viewership figures for Blue Bloods and two out of the three FBI series.

In late April, CBS rejoiced in another victorious year for ratings, marking an impressive 17th straight season as the highest-rated TV network, boasting seven of the top ten shows. It came as no shock that Justin Hartley’s Tracker retained its lead position among audiences from the previous season, while Kathy Bates’ portrayal in Matlock emerged as a sensational new fall sensation.

Contrary to what one might expect, the success of those blockbuster shows wasn’t surprising or intriguing to me. Instead, it was the ratings for several other shows that climbed into Nielsen’s Top 20 in Live+7 numbers up to mid-April that caught my attention. Here are the viewership figures:

  • Tracker: 10.84 million (renewed)
  • Matlock: 9.53 million (renewed)
  • FBI: 8.11 million (renewed for two more seasons)
  • Georgie & Mandy’s First Marriage: 7.98 million (renewed)
  • Blue Bloods: 7.9 million (cancelled)
  • NCIS: 7.86 million (renewed)
  • Elsbeth: 7.78 (renewed)
  • Ghosts: 7.29 million (renewed for two more seasons)
  • Watson: 6.66 million (renewed)
  • FBI: Most Wanted: 6.49 million (cancelled)
  • FBI: International: 6.49 million (cancelled)
  • Fire Country: 6.15 million (renewed)

Among the three CBS shows that were canceled despite being in the Top 20, none of them were the least watched when accounting for Live+7 ratings. This fact softens the blow of their cancellations, especially since Blue Bloods, which ranked #5 across all TV networks during its final season, is noteworthy. Despite Donnie Wahlberg receiving a spinoff, Tom Selleck expressed reluctance about the show coming to an end.

Indeed, it’s surprising that series like FBI: Most Wanted and FBI: International have been cancelled, even though they surpassed Max Thieriot’s Fire Country in the Top 20 rankings, coming very close to Morris Chestnut’s Watson. Admittedly, I had anticipated the end of International when the pilot for FBI: CIA was announced, given that creating a spinoff in the U.S. might be simpler and potentially less expensive than maintaining a series in Europe. However, I wasn’t fully aware of how well both shows were still attracting viewers.

CBS made the decision to cancel several shows that weren’t drawing high enough ratings to make it into the Top 20 on network TV. Among these was Shemar Moore’s show, S.W.A.T., which has been cancelled for a third and likely final time. Additionally, comedies like Poppa’s House and The Neighborhood are coming to an end this spring. The fate of Manu Bennett’s show, The Summit, is uncertain, and we await updates regarding Queen Latifah’s The Equalizer.

As a devoted film enthusiast, I found it intriguing that during primetime, only seven shows from networks other than CBS managed to break into the Top 20. Among these were NBC’s “Chicago Fire” at the impressive eighth spot, followed closely by “Chicago Med” at number ten. “Chicago P.D.” also made an appearance at number thirteen, while “The Voice” held its ground at eighteenth. ABC contributed to this list with “High Potential” at the twelfth position, “Will Trent” at fourteen, and “9-1-1” squeaking in at nineteen. It’s fascinating to see such a diverse range of shows capturing audience attention!

It’s highly unlikely that the numbers for the cancelled shows at CBS will impact decisions made behind the scenes, even though I would have preferred to see a show like FBI: Most Wanted saved and made available on streaming platforms like Paramount+ for subscribers. Other networks may have wished they could achieve the viewership numbers that CBS has had with its cancelled shows.

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2025-05-01 05:08

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