The Most-Watched Shows of the 2025-26 TV Season Are Here and Streaming Won Again
Every television season produces a ratings story, but occasionally one comes along that reshapes expectations entirely. The 2025-26 cycle delivered exactly that kind of moment, with streaming and broadcast networks competing for audiences across a dramatically changed media landscape.
The rankings were compiled using Nielsen’s Total Viewers Multiplatform 35-Day Ranker, which measures individual episode viewership over 35 days and averages those results across the season, with the final measurement date being April 12. The data was collected from mid-September to mid-April, covering both streaming and broadcast television, and sports programming was not included in the count.
When the final numbers arrived, the top of the list was completely unsurprising to anyone who had been paying attention. ‘Stranger Things’ claimed the crown with 32.9 million viewers across 35 days of multiplatform measurement, finishing a staggering 7.3 million viewers ahead of second-place ‘His and Hers’, which pulled 25.6 million. Netflix claimed the top series for the second consecutive season, having previously been led by ‘Squid Game’ in the 2024-25 rankings with 27.14 million viewers.
Rounding out third place was CBS’s ‘Marshals’ at 20.7 million, the first broadcast entry in the Taylor Sheridan ‘Yellowstone’ universe and the most-watched network show of the year outside of live NFL games. Fourth place went to ‘Sean Combs: The Reckoning’ with 20.6 million, followed by Paramount+’s ‘Landman’ at 19.8 million and ‘Bridgerton’ at 18.3 million. CBS’s ‘Tracker’ came in at 16.4 million, ABC’s ‘High Potential’ at 16 million, HBO Max’s ‘The Pitt’ at 13.8 million, and Netflix’s ‘Monster: The Ed Gein Story’ closed out the top ten at 13.4 million.
Netflix had the most shows in the top 10 with five, while CBS and Paramount+ combined for two, and Paramount+ solo, ABC and Disney, and HBO Max each contributed one. The spread illustrates a television ecosystem where streaming-first titles now regularly outpace traditional broadcast juggernauts in total audience reach, even when those network shows benefit from decades of appointment-viewing habit.
The staggering dominance of ‘Stranger Things’ in the wider season context was foreshadowed early, when its final season generated 8.46 billion viewing minutes during its Thanksgiving premiere week, setting a new historic benchmark for streaming viewership. That opening week total surpassed by over a billion minutes a record that had previously been held by ‘Stranger Things’ itself, which had logged 7.2 billion minutes during Season 4’s premiere in 2022.
The breadth of Netflix’s presence across the top ten reflects the platform’s continued strength in producing widely watched content across multiple genres, from scripted dramas to documentary-style programming, attracting diverse audiences across demographics. With ‘Stranger Things’ now concluded and broadcast network heavyweights like ‘Marshals’ and ‘Tracker’ proving that traditional television still has genuine muscle left, the race for next season’s top spot is genuinely wide open.
Which show on this list surprised you the most, and do you think any new title has what it takes to knock Netflix off the throne when the 2026-27 season wraps up?
