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Following the release of Prime Video's Alan Ritchson-led Reacher, every TV network and streaming service has tried to find its own Lee Child-esque thriller. Well, unlike the many, many failed attempts over the past few years, Paramount+'s version of Reacher has been a major success. The third season recently concluded, and a fourth is on the way (it's quickly catching up to Reacher), and that new season has resulted in Paramount+'s dark thriller officially becoming one of the biggest TV shows of the year!
Forget Reacher, because Paramount+'s Tracker is on the scene, and it has shot its way up the annual TV viewership chart. The Nielsen Company recently released its final cross-platform viewership stats for the 2025/26 TV season. Stranger Things' final season dominates the top spot, along with Netflix's other 2026 hits, His & Hers and Sean Combs: The Reckoning. Taylor Sheridan also won big, with Landman, Marshals, and Dutton Ranch all cracking the top 10.
But, nestled among the most iconic shows of the year, sits Tracker, with over 16.3 million viewers from a 35-day period. That makes it the eighth most popular series of the 2025/26 season. Those stats take into account network TV and streaming data. But, on the network TV-only chart, things are even more impressive. The chart tracks shows which also release on network TV (as opposed to the likes of Stranger Things, which are released exclusively on streaming). Marshals holds the top spot. But Tracker is the second most popular network TV series of 2025/26.
What Is 'Tracker' About?
If you're not one of those 16.3 million people who tuned in to Tracker's latest season on CBS/Paramount+, the series is based on Jeffrey Deaver's novel, The Never Game. Justin Hartley stars as Colter Shaw, a survivalist who uses his tracking skills (hence the title) to locate missing persons and claim the rewards. Of course, not every missing person wants to be found, so Colter frequently finds himself crossing paths with local criminals, law enforcement, and members of his own broken family. The series also stars Fiona Rene, Jensen Ackles, Abby McEnany, Kathleen Robertson, Gil Birmingham, and many more.
'Tracker' Is a Critical and Commercial Hit
As well as pulling in a staggering number of viewers with its latest season, the series also earned tremendous reviews. Tracker holds an 89% Rotten Tomatoes score, with an overall user rating of 75%. According to RT users, Season 2 is the best so far, as it holds an 84% audience rating on the Popcornmeter. But with Season 4 now in the works, that could trump its predecessors to become the best season of Tracker so far. Season 4 of Tracker is currently slated to debut on Oct. 4, 2026.
