Sunday, December 21, 2025

ABC Celebrates 2025 with Top Six Shows Among Adults 18-49

ABC caps a phenomenal year leading competitive cross-platform broadcast series rankings with the top shows across Total Viewers, Adults 18-49 and Adults 18-34, along with Teens 12-17 and Kids 2-11 - based on viewing over 35 days on ABC, Hulu, Hulu on Disney+ and digital platforms. "High Potential" stands as the No. 1 series for the year in both Total Viewers and Adults 18-49, with the network also owning the Top Six shows in the key Adult demo.


"High Potential" Leads Among Total Viewers


· After a stellar series debut in 2024, "High Potential" continued to dominate 2025, becoming the year's No. 1 show with an average of 16.5 million Total Viewers across platforms, edging out the No. 2 series, CBS' "Tracker" (16.4 million), and exceeding the No. 3 series, CBS' "Matlock" by +25% (13.2 million).


· "High Potential" leads the five ABC series to achieve at least 10 million Total Viewers per episode this year, including "Will Trent" (10.6 million), "The Rookie" (10.5 million), "Shifting Gears" (10.2 million) and "9-1-1" (10.0 million).


ABC Holds Top Six Shows Among Adults 18-49


· Standing head and shoulders above the competition among Adults 18-49, ABC holds the Top Six shows, including "High Potential" (No. 1 - 3.77 rating), top returning comedy "Abbott Elementary" (No. 2 - 3.22 rating), top returning drama "The Rookie" (No. 3 - 2.54 rating), top unscripted series "Dancing with the Stars" (No. 4 - 2.28 rating) along with No. 1 new comedy "Shifting Gears" (No. 5 - 2.16 rating) and returning favorite "9-1-1" (No. 6 - 2.15 rating).


· In fact, ABC has seven of the Top 10 shows with the addition of "9-1-1: Nashville" (No. 9 - 1.82 rating), which stands as the top new drama of the fall season.


ABC Claims No. 1 Shows Among Young Adults, Teens and Kids


· "Abbott Elementary" leads as TV's No. 1 show in Adults 18-34 (2.84 rating), with ABC claiming seven of the Top 10 in the young adult demo.


· "The Rookie" (1.43 Teens 12-17 rating) reigns at No. 1 among teens, with ABC claiming six of the Top 10.


· "Dancing with the Stars" (1.16 Kids 2-11 rating) stands as the No. 1 program among children, with the network holding six of the Top 10.


Key 2025 Highlights


· "Dancing with the Stars" marked a historic 34th season in viewership and fan voting. The series broke records as the first fall show in Nielsen's electronic measurement history to increase its audience for six consecutive weeks following a season premiere. "Dancing with the Stars" concluded its electrifying season with its largest finale audience (9.43 million) since 2016 and its best rating among Adults 18-49 (2.06) since 2015. In addition, the finale smashed records with over 72 million votes cast and captured a staggering 48% audience share among younger adults 18-34 - the largest share of available viewers for any broadcast entertainment series telecast since the "Friends" series finale in May 2004.


· "Will Trent" stood as the only drama to grow its Total Viewer audience for the third consecutive year in Live+7 Day ratings. The show returns for a new season on Jan. 6 alongside "The Rookie" and TV's No. 1 show, "High Potential."


· Currently in its 22nd season, "Grey's Anatomy" dominated as the most-streamed drama across the entire television landscape with over 38 billion minutes logged this year - the second year in a row the show has topped streaming rankings.


· After ringing in the year with 29.7 million Total Viewers at midnight, TV's top New Year's Eve tradition, "New Year's Rockin' Eve with Ryan Seacrest," returns in two weeks to kick off 2026 in style.


Source: Cross-platform analysis of Nielsen Linear + SCR data based on 7/35 days of viewing from the linear air date and streaming FSD. Includes pre-premieres. Broadcast original series only. Excludes, sports, specials, news and repeats. 12/30/24-11/30/25. Linear based on Nielsen's Updated Big Data Plus Panel Sample. Nielsen Live+Same Day Big Data Plus Panel Ratings for "Dancing with the Stars" (11/25/25) and "New Year's Rockin' Eve with Ryan Seacrest" (12/31/24).

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