If there was a theme popping out of Could’s upfronts, it’s that everybody — from long-standing broadcast networks to new(ish) streaming gamers — desires a bit of the televised sports activities enterprise. NBC goes all in on its new NBA contract subsequent season, Netflix and YouTube can have unique NFL video games, and there may be seemingly a sports activities documentary for each nook of fandom.
Whereas dwell sports activities are high of thoughts for everybody and the NFL (nonetheless and seemingly eternally) guidelines broadcast rankings, viewers additionally spent a ton of time within the 2024-25 season with dramas, comedies and unscripted collection. A number of first-year reveals turned hits this season (hey, Matlock, Excessive Potential and Adolescence), whereas returning veterans proved their value in huge methods (taking a look at you, Reacher).
With the September-to-Could season now wrapped, right here’s a take a look at essentially the most worthwhile gamers, rookies of the 12 months — and a few disappointing performers — at numerous networks and streamers.
(Seven-day linear rankings figures for the season are by Could 11; 35-day multi-platform numbers are as of late March.)
ABC
MVP and Rookie of the 12 months: Excessive Potential. The procedural starring Kaitlin Olson as a extremely smart cleansing woman-turned-police advisor is ABC’s No. 2 present (behind Monday Night time Soccer) in Nielsen’s linear rankings. It’s additionally an enormous present on streaming, tying for second place amongst all community collection in cross-platform, 35-day rankings with greater than 16 million viewers per episode.
Most Improved: Will Trent. In its third 12 months, the present has grown each season to date in linear rankings; its seven-day viewers earlier than streaming is up by about 3 p.c 12 months to 12 months at 6.82 million viewers. Throughout all platforms over 35 days, Will Trent grows to 11.6 million viewers, rating seventeenth amongst all authentic collection (together with streaming reveals) for the season.
In a hunch: The Bachelor franchise. Within the fall, The Golden Bachelorette fell effectively wanting The Golden Bachelor’s rankings from 2023, and the newest Bachelor season can be down by double digits amongst each all viewers and adults 18-49. Amid off-camera turmoil, ABC scrapped this summer season’s version of The Bachelorette and at present doesn’t have The Bachelor on its lineup for 2025-26 (although Bachelor in Paradise and a second Golden Bachelor season are on deck for summer season and fall).
Apple TV+
MVP: Severance. Three years between seasons is a looong time, however the present’s viewers was greater than prepared. The mind-bending drama delivered Apple TV+’s finest efficiency for a collection since Ted Lasso in 2023, staying in Nielsen’s high 10 authentic streaming collection rankings for all 10 weeks of its season (and another after it ended).
Rookie of the 12 months(?): The Studio. That is admittedly a vibes-based decide. The movie-business comedy starring and co-created by Seth Rogen has robust critiques and a faithful viewers inside the business, however as of late April it had not cracked Nielsen’s streaming rankings (and Apple doesn’t share any viewing information for its reveals).
CBS
MVP: Tracker. The second-year collection starring Justin Hartley has completed first amongst all community reveals (excluding sports activities) in each of its seasons. In 2024-25, it’s the one non-sports broadcast present to achieve 10 million viewers earlier than streaming (it’s at 10.97 million). 5 weeks of cross-platform viewing pushes its complete to 17.5 million viewers.
Rookies of the 12 months: Matlock and Georgie & Mandy’s First Marriage. The Kathy Bates-led Matlock began huge and by no means actually light, clocking higher than 16 million cross-platform viewers for the season. Georgie & Mandy, a by-product of Younger Sheldon and the third present within the ever-expanding Huge Bang Principle universe, drew 12.1 million multi-platform viewers, tying its Thursday evening lead-out, Ghosts, because the most-watched comedies on broadcast or cable.
Cap casualties: The Equalizer, FBI: Worldwide and FBI: Most Wished. By rankings alone, all three reveals can be no-brainer pickups at networks apart from CBS. However the community routinely has the most-watched canceled collection every year because it appears to save lots of the place it might probably and periodically clean up its primetime schedule; this 12 months, The Equalizer and the 2 FBI spinoffs have that unlucky distinction.
Diego Luna in ‘Andor’
Lucasfilm Ltd.
Disney+
MVP: Bluey. The present that has legions of American children saying “Nawr” shouldn’t be a Disney+ authentic, however it’s unquestionably a streaming juggernaut. The Australian import was far and away essentially the most streamed collection of 2024 in the USA and is holding onto that title to date in 2025. Bluey is on a 134-week streak on the Nielsen streaming charts, having final fallen outdoors the highest 10 in September 2022.
Crunch time performer: Andor. The perfect-reviewed Star Wars collection additionally notched a collection excessive in viewing time for the week of its season two premiere in late April (the final week for which streaming information is obtainable). It’s a wanted enhance for considered one of Disney+’s signature franchises, as a result of …
In a hunch: Marvel and Star Wars. Earlier than Andor, it had been a tough season for Marvel and Star Wars reveals on Disney+. Agatha All Alongside made Nielsen’s checklist of high authentic streaming reveals a number of instances and spiked within the week of its finale, however Star Wars: Skeleton Crew and Daredevil: Born Once more each did not chart throughout their runs, and the animated Marvel present What If …? made it solely as soon as throughout its third season.
Fox
MVP and Rookie of the 12 months: Doc. The medical drama starring Molly Parker almost doubled its viewers (2.33 million to 4.6 million viewers) over seven days in linear rankings, then added a number of million extra viewers with streaming. In renewing the collection in February, Fox mentioned the premiere episode had drawn in some 16 million viewers, together with on-air repeats, streaming and different delayed viewing over six weeks.
Rookie roster reduce: Rescue: Hello-Surf. Fox positioned an enormous wager on the Hawaii-set drama about lifeguards, giving it a post-NFL premiere in September and initially tabbing it for the audience-boosting slot after the Tremendous Bowl. After the present obtained off to a gentle begin, nonetheless, the community pulled it off of Tremendous Bowl Sunday (The Flooring aired there as a substitute). Hello-Surf was canceled in early Could.
HBO/Max
MVP: The White Lotus. Season three of Mike White’s chronicle of overprivileged Individuals visiting the five-star resort chain/murder magnet set a string of collection bests all through its run. It had the present’s most-watched premiere and finale to this point, with a number of different first-night highs in between. As of the day after its April 6 finale, season three was averaging 16 million cross-platform viewers, a quantity that has solely grown since. HBO measures cross-platform viewing for its reveals over 90 days; the finale marked day 49 of that interval.
Rookie of the 12 months: The Pitt. Max’s real-time hospital drama was well-reviewed and appeared to assemble word-of-mouth momentum all through its 15-episode season (which is now an unusually lengthy order for a streaming present). The ultimate 4 weeks of the season — plus another after the finale — made Nielsen’s streaming chart, with a excessive of 852 million minutes the week its finale debuted.
Martin Brief, Steve Martin and Selena Gomez in ‘Solely Murders within the Constructing’ season 4.
Disney/Patrick Harbron
Hulu
MVPs: Solely Murders within the Constructing and The Handmaid’s Story. OMITB has been Hulu’s most constant authentic collection, charting almost each week it has debuted authentic episodes throughout its 4 seasons. Season 4 final fall was no completely different, rating in Nielsen’s high 10 authentic streaming reveals for 11 straight weeks. The Handmaid’s Story, in the meantime, had a powerful begin to its ultimate season, averaging 788 million viewing minutes over its first three weeks — a 42 p.c enchancment over the identical time span for season 5 in 2022.
Rookie of the 12 months: Paradise. The thriller from creator Dan Fogelman charted all six weeks it launched episodes and had a really constant run. It drew between 476 million and 566 million minutes of watch time for the primary 5 weeks earlier than a finale-week leap to 705 million.
Bench performers: Library collection. Household Man, Bob’s Burgers and The Rookie, all of which have intensive catalogs, are near-constant presences within the weekly streaming high 10 for acquired collection. So are a number of reveals Hulu shares with different streamers, together with Gray’s Anatomy (Netflix) and Regulation & Order: SVU (Peacock).
NBC
MVP: Sunday Night time Soccer. This isn’t a shock decide in any method, but it surely’s inconceivable to not bestow this honor on SNF. The weekly NFL showcase was the most-watched primetime community collection for the 14th straight season — the longest such streak for the reason that starting of Nielsen’s primetime charts 75 years in the past. Throughout NBC and Peacock, Sunday Night time Soccer averaged 21.6 million viewers this season.
Rookie of the 12 months: Pleased’s Place. Friday evening shouldn’t be normally the place you’d anticipate a rankings success story, however the evening shouldn’t be the useless zone it as soon as was, and Pleased’s Place constructed a stable viewers there after NBC had made quiet efforts to ascertain a comedy block there in latest seasons. Pleased’s Place, starring Reba McEntire and Belissa Escobedo, drew a stable 4.54 million viewers earlier than streaming, making it a straightforward renewal.
Corridor of Fame: Dick Wolf. The mega-producer’s observe document is unimpeachable, and even deep, deep into the lifetime of his Chicago and Regulation & Order franchises, they’re nonetheless delivering. After Sunday Night time Soccer, 5 of NBC’s seven most-watched reveals come from Wolf (the 2 weekly editions of The Voice are the others). Between them, the 5 collection have produced a staggering 1,811 episodes to this point.
Stephen Graham and Owen Cooper in ’Adolescence.’
Courtesy of Netflix
Netflix
MVP: Squid Sport. Season two of the Korean hit had the 2 largest streaming weeks of the season — 4.92 billion and 4.6 billion minutes in late December and early January. It averaged 27.1 million viewers over 35 days, in keeping with Nielsen, essentially the most for any present on any platform in 2024-25 (and a probable blockbuster ultimate season is about for late June).
Rookies of the 12 months: Adolescence, No person Desires This and The Residence. Adolescence, the extraordinary British miniseries with every episode unfolding in a single shot, ranks second on Nielsen’s cross-platform checklist for the season with 19 million viewers over 35 days. On the opposite finish of the tonal spectrum, rom-com No person Desires This led a powerful Netflix comedy roster with 15.2 million viewers over 5 weeks. The Residence has proven extra endurance within the weekly streaming rankings than both of these reveals, nonetheless. It’s charted for six straight weeks — longer than another first-year Netflix present since September.
Paramount+/Showtime
MVP: Taylor Sheridan. 4 of the prolific creator and showrunner’s Paramount+ collection — Landman, 1923, Tulsa King and Lioness — spent a number of weeks on the streaming charts this season. No different producer can lay declare to having such a good grip on the highest of a single streamer’s rankings. Oh, and the present that kickstarted Sheridan and Paramount’s mutually profitable relationship, Yellowstone, additionally had a record-breaking season on cable’s Paramount Community.
Rookie of the 12 months: Landman. Sheridan’s collection in regards to the West Texas oil enterprise, starring Billy Bob Thornton, was the primary Paramount+ present to attract greater than a billion viewing minutes in a single week (1923 adopted go well with later within the season). The present peaked with 1.38 billion minutes within the week main as much as its season finale.
Most Improved: Yellowjackets. After not cracking the streaming high 10 in any respect throughout its second season in 2023, the Showtime drama did so 4 instances in season three. The collection additionally scored its most-watched season finale to this point worldwide.
Peacock
MVP: The Traitors. The competitors present hosted by Alan Cumming had its largest U.S. season to date, racking up significantly extra viewing time than season two in early 2024. The 5 instances it made the highest 10 authentic streaming collection charts throughout the season marked the 5 largest weeks in its historical past.
Rookie of the 12 months: The Day of the Jackal. The thriller starring Eddie Redmayne and Lashana Lynch by no means hit the highest 10 of the Nielsen streaming charts, but it surely saved accumulating viewers to the purpose the place it surpassed all different first-year dramas on Peacock, the streamer says.
Prime Video
MVP: Reacher. The collection a couple of huge man (performed by Alan Ritchson) had a huge impact on the streaming panorama with its third season. The present averaged 18.1 million viewers over 35 days and spent 9 consecutive weeks within the high 10.
Rookies of the 12 months: Beast Video games and Cross. Jimmy “MrBeast” Donaldson introduced a few of his huge YouTube following to Prime Video with Beast Video games, a contest present that charted for seven weeks and is among the platform’s most profitable unscripted reveals — incomes it a two-season renewal. Cross, based mostly on James Patterson’s Alex Cross novels and starring Aldis Hodge, had two large weeks after its binge launch in November, justifying an early pickup of season two.