The Marshals premiere is the most-watched scripted series debut on CBS since 2018, according to the network.
The Yellowstone spinoff premiered on Sunday, March 1, on CBS, and was viewed by 9.52 million viewers, the most-watched new scripted series premiere without a football lead-in since 2018, according to Nielsen, Live+SD Panel + Big Data. Marshals is the first broadcast series from the Yellowstone universe and is produced by Paramount TV Studios and 101 Studios.
In Marshals, with the Yellowstone Ranch behind him, Kayce Dutton (Luke Grimes) joins an elite unit of U.S. Marshals, combining his skills as a cowboy and Navy SEAL to bring range justice to Montana, where he and his teammates must balance family, duty, and the high psychological cost that comes with serving as the last line of defense in the region’s war on violence.
Marshals Season 1 Episode 1 was No. 1 show of the week, according to CBS, and is the No. 1 new series premiere in the 2025/26 broadcast season. It’s the network’s best-performing scripted premiere without a football lead-in since FBI, which first premiered on September 25, 2018, and was watched by 10.09 million viewers. The series premiere also had a99% show retention by half hour.
For comparison, one of CBS’s most-watched series premieres of this season is Boston Blue. The first episode of theBlue Bloodsspinoff was watched by 8.64 million viewers.
CBS’ Sunday night lineup of 60 Minutes (7.21 million viewers), Marshals (9.52 million viewers), Tracker (8.29 million viewers), and Watson (4.00 million viewers) beat the second-place network, ABC, by +171% (vs. 2.68 million viewers). CBS also beat NBC, ABC, and FOX combined by +21% (vs. 6.00 million viewers).
CBS also notes that Marshals, Tracker, and 60 Minutesare the top three series on television for the week. Tracker was the No. 2 program of the week, with the Sunday, March 1, episode up +3% from its fall average.
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