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While other networks make elaborate New York presentations for this week’s upfronts, CBS crept into the limelight off the Paramount Studios lot in Los Angeles. There was no Carnegie Hall stage or confetti guns involved as the network rolled out its 2025–2026 primetime schedule with confidence—and backing it up with numbers.
Guest stars from the redesigned legal drama Matlock, including Kathy Bates, Jason Ritter, and Leah Lewis, hosted the celebration at CBSFEST on May 7. But the real headliner was the numbers. CBS once more is the most-viewed network for the 17th consecutive year, and according to Nielsen’s 35-day multiplatform measurements, it owns eight of the top ten broadcast shows.
In the middle of that momentum are broadcast-grabbing shows like Tracker, with Justin Hartley, which averaged 17.5 million viewers, and Matlock, which averaged 16.1 million in its initial season. CBS CEO George Cheeks and Entertainment President Amy Reisenbach were adamant: it’s not merely about maintaining broadcast lead—it’s about streaming bridge. Nearly half of all streaming on Paramount+ is CBS programming, Cheeks noted.
Instead of chasing trends, CBS is standing firm on its formula: character-driven procedurals that can be watched in sequence—or out of sequence—and still capture viewers. That formula continues this season with four new dramas, including Y: Marshals, a spinoff based in Taylor Sheridan’s Yellowstone franchise, and Watson, a reimagining of Sherlock Holmes’ sidekick as a modern medical sleuth.
Also coming aboard at CBS is The Road, a country music competition series starring Sheridan and Blake Shelton, which suggests that unscripted content remains relevant in the network’s playbook.
Behind the scenes, CBS has weathered industry whirlwinds, including litigation struggles with now-departed former President Trump and merger difficulties with Skydance Media. Cheeks did not go easy on describing the roller coaster, saying that it had been a “disruptive and challenging time.” But he praised his staff fast for “playing through rather than to the noise.”
Reisenbach, for her part, mentioned strategic timing as an element of success. “This is a strong schedule with smart pairings that build up new and returning series,” she said.
In an environment of ratings obsessed with who’s No. 1 where, CBS need not spin numbers—she simply owns them.
