‘Marshals’ debut attracts 9.52m viewers, CBS’ top non-NFL launch since ‘FBI’

Taylor Sheridan's Yellowstone universe has thrived on CBS, capturing the large audience the original series enjoyed on its sister channel, Paramount Network.

On Sunday (March 1), the series premiered with Luke Grimes returning as Kayce Dutton from Yellowstone, attracting 9.52 million viewers. This marked the highest-viewed new series debut of the 2025-26 broadcast season.

It stands as CBS's most significant scripted premiere outside of a football lead-in since FBI launched on September 25, 2018, with 10.09 million viewers. 

Promisingly, Marshals maintained 99% of its audience from the first to the second half-hour.

Marshals' performance exceeded the high bar set by the Yellowstone Season 5 premiere on Paramount Network, which amassed 8.8 million L+SD viewers. 

It also surpassed the successful September 2024 launch of CBS’s Matlock, which drew an average of 7.74 million, supported by a 60 Minutes lead-in boosted by a Steelers-Chargers game.

Similar to the Matlock premiere, Marshals, airing on Sundays at 9 PM, capitalised on its 60 Minutes lead-in, a rare feat — and it achieved this by a wider margin compared to the legal drama, with 9.52 million against 7.21 million for 60 Minutes.

The Yellowstone offshoot was the top broadcast show of the week, followed by other CBS Sunday shows, with Marshals' follow-up Tracker drawing 8.29 million and 60 Minutes preceding it.

Marshals features Grimes resuming his role as Kayce Dutton, who joins an elite team of US Marshals, blending his expertise as a cowboy and Navy SEAL to uphold justice in the vast lands of Montana. 

This series is produced by Paramount Television Studios and 101 Studios.