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. 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.
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