The 2025 TV schedule is winding down, with NBC and ABC having already aired the fall finales for some of their biggest shows by mid-November. CBS is still going strong into December, however, and some new viewership numbers reveal that the network has something very good going on Fridays with Boston Blue and Sheriff Country, both in their first seasons.
In fact, they’re doing so well that the numbers left me a bit confused about Fire Country,which doesn’t seem to be doing nearly as well as previous seasons would lead one to expect. Read on for why!
CBS’ Fall Audience
First things first! The network released Live+7 multi-platform viewership numbers for the first seven weeks of the fall TV season, a.k.a. the number of people who tuned into TV shows over seven days since mid-October. (This could have been during a live broadcast or streaming with a Paramount+ subscription, as multi-platform examples. CBS holds eleven of the Top 20 fall shows under these Live+7 parameters, including Boston Blue at #12 with an average audience of 8.0 million and Sheriff Country at #15 with an average audience of 7.6 million.
I was surprised to see that Fire Country was not also listed in the Live+7 Top 20. After all, the Friday night lineup on CBS is Sheriff Country at 8 p.m. ET, Fire Country at 9 p.m. ET, and Boston Blue at 10 p.m. ET, so one would think that Fire Country would have enough viewers to make that Top 20 by being surrounded by shows ranking at #12 and #15. Check out the full Top 20 Live+7 list:
- Tracker/CBS – 14.2 million
- High Potential/ABC – 12.3 million
- Matlock/CBS – 10.1 million
- 60 Minutes/CBS – 10.1 million
- NCIS/CBS – 8.7 million
- Ghosts/CBS – 8.7 million
- Dancing with the Stars/ABC – 8.6 million
- Chicago Fire/NBC – 8.5 million
- Chicago Med/NBC – 8.2 million
- Georgie & Mandy’s First Marriage/CBS – 8.2 million
- Elsbeth/CBS – 8.1 million
- Boston Blue/CBS – 8.0 million
- 9-1-1/ABC – 7.8 million
- Chicago P.D./NBC – 7.8 million
- Sheriff Country/CBS – 7.6 million
- FBI/CBS – 7.4 million
- 9-1-1: Nashville/ABC – 7.0 million
- Law & Order: SVU/NBC – 7.0 million
- Survivor/CBS – 6.9 million
- Shifting Gears/ABC – 6.8 million
So, why isn’t Fire Country in the Top 20 in Live+7 at this point? The picture that these numbers paint is that either certain CBS fans will watch Sheriff Country, turn off the TV, and then tune back in for Boston Blue, or that Sheriff Country and Boston Blue independently won an impressive number of viewers who just don’t also watch Fire Country.
Considering that Fire Country was still ranking well on CBS at the end of last season, I’m surprised to see that it’s evidently pretty far behind the Blue Bloods sequel and it’s own spinoff. The #20 show earned its Live+7 spot with 6.8 million; Fire Country‘s average therefore must be 6.7 million or lower.
How Important Are These Numbers?
Now, I’d be remiss if I didn’t address the fact that CBS can claim eleven of the Top 20 slots in the very specific metric of Live+7 over the course of seven weeks across both broadcast and streaming. Would data from Live+Same Day and/or Live+3 paint a different picture of what people are prioritizing sooner rather than later?
Still, despite the very specific metrics, teams at CBS have a lot to brag about with these totals. Tracker continues its streak at #1, Matlock wasn’t a one-season wonder with Season 2 at #2, and the success of Boston Blue and Sheriff Country mean that the network is the home of the #1 and #2 new series of the fall season.
Per CBS, Sheriff Country‘s 7.6 million average is an increase of 33% over S.W.A.T. in the same time slot last season, with a bump of 86% in streaming alone. Boston Blue is up 87% over Blue Bloods at this time last year with streaming totals. Plus, of the three comedies in the Top 20, two of them are on CBS.
What Else Do The Numbers Tell Us?
It was always likely that Boston Blue would be a hit, with Donnie Wahlberg reprising his popular Blue Bloods role. The freshman drama offers fans of the original series a way back into the Reagan family, even if Tom Selleck won’t commit to playing Frank again. As for Sheriff Country, there’s the novelty of a new spinoff, and Morena Baccarin’s show got a backdoor pilot during Fire Country as a potential early hook. It’s possible that Fire Country isn’t actually doing any worse with viewers this season; Boston Blue and Sheriff Country may just be doing better and bumped it down .
That’s all speculation, however, and the Top 20 is also pretty interesting for other networks. All four of NBC’s entries hail from the Dick Wolf TV universe, and only the original Law & Order is missing from the Top 20. (I’m not counting NBC’s broadcasts of the Law & Order: Organized Crime episodes that were already available streaming with a Peacock subscription.) That indicates to me that NBC has a good thing going with franchise series, compared to shows that aren’t part of a wider universe.
ABC is an interesting mix of old and new, with Dancing with the Stars and 9-1-1 making the Top 20 in their 34th and ninth seasons, respectively, while High Potential and Shifting Gears are in Season 2 and 9-1-1: Nashville is new this fall. Of course, ABC doesn’t have a franchise quite as established as One Chicago over on NBC, so perhaps it’s not surprising that the hits are more of a mix on ABC.
What About CBS In 2026?
It is worth noting that some changes are coming to CBS’ lineup in the 2026 TV schedule, so it’s possible that Boston Blue and Sheriff Country will be dethroned as the top new shows of the 2025-2026 season. For one, CIA will finally arrive after being bumped back from a fall premiere. With the drama hailing from Wolf Entertainment and paired with FBI on Monday nights, it’s possible that it will hit numbers comparable to FBI: International and FBI: Most Wanted. While both were cancelled in the spring, they also did well enough in the ratings to beat Fire Country in viewership before getting the axe.
Watson will rejoin Tracker on Sunday nights, which could be a positive despite Morris Chestnut’s comments about the Monday night pairing with FBI this fall. Airing after the network’s #1 series could result in audience growth. Sundays will also feature Y: Marshals, a Yellowstone spinoff that seems bound to accumulate an audience from the existing fanbase. The Friday night lineup of Sheriff Country, Fire Country, and Boston Blue will remain the same in the new year.
Of course, traditional broadcast ratings aren’t as pivotal in recent years as they were in the days before streaming, so we’ll just have to wait and see what trends develop in early 2026 and what decisions are made about shows’ futures by the end of the spring finale season. For now, you can keep catching Morena Baccarin‘s Sheriff Country at 8 p.m., Max Thieriot’s Fire Country at 9 p.m., and Donnie Wahlberg’s Boston Blue at 10 p.m. on CBS Fridays until the fall finales on December 19.
