Top TV Shows of 2025-2026 TV Season

By Rueben | June 9, 2026

Now that the 2025-2026 TV season is officially over, especially where linear TV is concerned, the folks over at Variety provided their “annual look at the Nielsen ranker for all of TV in total viewers.”

According to their article – which can be found here in full here – the following were the highs and the lows of this most current TV season both on streaming and linear TV:

The Pitt on HBO Max was a “critical darling from the start, and became an awards powerhouse,” but it did get off to a bumpy ratings start at first, but is now “a top ten show.” Viewers were also still taken with reality programming (not my personal favorite topic) especially in the form of Dancing With the Stars and Survivor.

As for the streaming world, Apple TV and Peacock actually made big strides landing “more shows on the top 100 ranker this year.” Peacock saw hits with All Her Fault, The Traitors and The Burbs while Apple TV made the charts with Shrinking and Pluribus. Remakes also made a mark in the ratings with the return of Scrubs on ABC and Malcolm in the Middle on Hulu even a reboot of Fear Factor on FOX performed well.

On the other hand, though, 60 Minutes (and much of CBS sadly, including the unjust cancellation of The Late Show With Stephen Colbert) suffered this year especially given what its new leadership is doing in the name of kowtowing to an out-of-touch and out-of-their-mind political landscape (my words not those of Variety, I might add).

Also, several shows that recently got cancelled actually overperformed but still got the boot. Those include: Boots on Netflix; Watson on CBS, The Abandons also on Netflix and the CBS comedy DMV.

As I mentioned, you can check out the full charts over on Variety at the link above, but I have encapsulated some of the high notes below; specifically the dramas on both linear and streaming (where applicable):

Among the top 100 broadcast (aka linear TV) dramas and streaming dramas according to the 35-day multiplatform chart, which basically means the top shows that were watched regardless of whether they were watched live on their home networks or streaming service OR watched over a 35-day period on either platform, include:

Stranger Things (Netflix) – 32.9 million viewers
His & Hers (Netflix) – 25.6 million viewers
Marshals (CBS/Paramount+) – 20.7 million viewers
Landman (Paramount+) – 19.8 million viewers
Bridgerton (Netflix) – 18.3 million viewers
Tracker (CBS/Paramount+) – 16.4 million viewers
High Potential (ABC/Hulu/Disney+) – 16 million viewers
The Pitt (HBO Max) – 13.8 million viewers
Monster: The Ed Gein Story (Netflix) – 13.4 million viewers
Fallout (Amazon Prime) – 13.3 million viewers
The Beast In Me (Netflix) – 12.7 million viewers
Matlock (CBS/Paramount+) – 11.5 million viewers
The Lincoln Lawyer (Netflix) – 11.4 million viewers
Sheriff Country (CBS/Paramount+) – 10.8 million viewers
The Rookie (ABC/Hulu/Disney+) – 10.6 million viewers
Will Trent (ABC/Hulu/Disney+) – 10.4 million viewers
The Madison (Paramount+) – 10.2 million viewers
NCIS (CBS/Paramount+) – 10 million viewers
Chicago Fire (NBC/Peacock) – 9.9 million viewers
The Boys (Amazon Prime) – 9.9 million viewers
A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms (HBO/HBO Max) – 9.8 million viewers
Wayward (Netflix) – 9.7 million viewers
Boston Blue (CBS/Paramount+) – 9.5 million viewers
Nobody Wants This (Netflix) – 9.4 million viewers
9-1-1 (ABC/Hulu/Disney+) – 9.4 million viewers
Chicago P.D. (NBC/Peacock) – 9.3 million viewers
Chicago Med (NBC/Peacock) – 9.3 million viewers
Elsbeth (CBS/Paramount+) – 9.2 million viewers
CIA (CBS/Paramount+) – 8.9 million viewers
FBI (CBS/Paramount+) – 8.9 million viewers
The Night Agent (Netflix) – 8.8 million viewers
Law & Order: SVU (NBC/Peacock) – 8.7 million viewers
R.J. Decker (ABC/Hulu/Disney+) – 8.4 million viewers
Tulsa King (Paramount+) – 8.4 million viewers
Black Rabbit (Netflix) – 8.3 million viewers
9-1-1: Nashville (ABC/Hulu/Disney+) – 8.1 million viewers
Fire Country (CBS/Paramount+) – 8.1 million viewers
Virgin River (Netflix) – 7.3 million viewers
The Diplomat (Netflix) – 7.3 million viewers
Paradise (Hulu/Disney+) – 6.9 million viewers
Memory of a Killer (FOX/Hulu) – 6.9 million viewers
One Piece (Netflix) – 6.9 million viewers
Emily in Paris (Netflix) – 6.8 million viewers
Doc (FOX/Hulu) – 6.8 million viewers
Grey’s Anatomy (ABC/Hulu/Disney+) – 6.8 million viewers
All Her Fault (Peacock) – 6.7 million viewers
Law & Order (NBC/Peacock) – 6.6 million viewers
Only Murders in the Building (Hulu/Disney+) – 6.6 million viewers
The Hunting Party (NBC/Peacock) – 6.4 million viewers
Watson (CBS/Paramount+) – 6.4 million viewers
Scarpetta (Amazon Prime) – 6.2 million viewers
Percy Jackson & the Olympians (Disney+) – 6.2 million
Beauty in Black (Netflix) – 6.1 million viewers
Pluribus (Apple TV) – 6 million viewers
The Abandons (Netflix) – 5.8 million viewers
Death By Lightning (Netflix) – 5.5 million viewers
NCIS: Sydney (CBS) – 5.5 million viewers
Young Sherlock (Amazon Prime) – 5.1 million viewers
Murder in a Small Town (FOX/Hulu) – 5.1 million viewers

NOTE: The above list does not include shows with less than four telecasts.

What were your top shows of the 2025-2026 season? Please share those shows in our comments section below.