Tracker is off to a strong start at CBS as the show’s premiere episode followed Super Bowl LVIII‘s telecast. Following the Kansas City Chiefs’ victory against the San Francisco 49ers, the show starring This Is Us vet Justin Hartley debuted with 18.4 million viewers.
According to the network, Tracker‘s debut was the most-watched primetime entertainment program since the 2021 debut of The Equalizer which also aired following the Super Bowl. Estimates based on Live+3 day playback stats suggest that with the upcoming encore of the premiere, Tracker‘s pilot episode could amass as much as 25 million viewers overall by the end of the week.
(Credit: Lindsay Siu/CBS )
As mentioned above, Tracker‘s series debut episode will air Thursday, February 15 at 10/9c, giving viewers and new fans a chance to catch the show at a more reasonable time considering the original episode aired following a Super Bowl that went into overtime.
Despite Tracker‘s large post-Super Bowl audience, it didn’t crack the top 15 post-game broadcasts, nor Hartley’s other post-game This Is Us episode, “Super Bowl Sunday,” which aired in 2018 and amassed an audience of 26.9 million viewers on the night of its broadcast. The only difference is that This Is Us was geared up for a pivotal payoff in Jack Pearson’s (Milo Ventimiglia) death, while Tracker is just getting started.
While Tracker‘s debut may not be among the highest post-game, the Super Bowl itself set a new record with a total audience of 123.4 million viewers across all platforms including CBS, Paramount+, Nickelodeon, and more. The previous record for the Super Bowl was 115.1 million who tuned in for last year’s game.
What do you think of the ratings? Let us know in the comments section, below, and stay tuned for more from Tracker as the show continues to find more viewers in the weeks ahead.
Tracker, Premiere Episode Encore, Thursday, February 15, 10/9c, CBS