‘Tracker’ Fans Slam Messy & Confusing CBS Schedule Changes

Bradley Stryker as Tozer and Justin Hartley as Colter Shaw in Tracker
Michael Courtney/CBS

In spite of its placement in TV’s best time slot, CBS‘ Tracker is garnering a lot of negative attention due its inconsistent schedule.

The drama series starring This Is Us actor Justin Hartley was one of the newest hits on network TV following its big breakout premiere after the record-breaking 2024 Super Bowl on February 11. However, fans have not only been shorted two episodes of the premiere season (once in March for March Madness and again in April for the CMT Music Awards), but the airing time keeps changing as well.

Initially, the drama was set to air at 9/8c every Sunday night. However, following the week off air for the CMT Music Awards, the network moved the air time to 8/7c to make space for The 100th: Billy Joel at Madison Square Gardena one-time event also set to air on April 14.

However, on April 14, the newly announced 8/7c air time got changed again when it started late due to the Masters’ Tournament running over its slotted time. Naturally, fans of the show were frustrated and expressed these opinion on the show’s various social media pages.

“This is literally false advertising,” one comment reads on an official Tracker Instagram post. “Stop saying it’s on at 8 when it’s on at 8:30. How is the show going to work out with a live show at 9?”

“We love this show but can you move it to the top of an hour???” another comment reads. “We are missing half when I forget to record the show following it.”

One fan expressed the earnest interest in demanding better respect for the show from the network itself.

“Help, please!! You have an incredible show and deserve far better treatment from your network, and so do you loyal fans,” the comment reads.

Another fan replied, “I hope this doesn’t hurt their ratings because it’s a great show!”

Another fan supposed the scheduling issues could be in an attempt to drive traffic to its streaming platform Paramount+. “The 30 minutes CBS 60 Minutes takes from Tracker is totally unnecessary and could have been cut so Tracker could air on time in full. I would be pleasantly surprised if the entire show aired tonight. Seems constant delays of Tracker is attempting to drive viewers to Paramount+. Sorry, not this viewer!”

Despite its inconsistencies, the series has garnered decent momentum since its premiere, though fans can’t help but worry that this lag in delivery will hurt its ratings and lose its loyal fanbase.

Tracker stars Hartley as Colter Shaw, a lone-wolf survivalist who drives around the country claiming rewards for missing people and personal belongings. In March, it was announced that the series was renewed for a second season.