‘Marshals’ Ratings: Was the ‘Yellowstone’ Spinoff A Hit for CBS?

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 a 99% show retention by half hour.

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For comparison, one of CBS’s most-watched series premieres of this season is Boston Blue. The first episode of the Blue Bloods spinoff 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 Minutes are 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.

The Marshals premiere revealed why Yellowstone‘s Monica Dutton (Kelsey Asbille) was gone and showed the story of how Kayce ended up joining the U.S. Marshals in Montana. Marshals is created by Spencer Hudnut and executive-produced by Taylor Sheridan. Yellowstone actors Brecken Merrill, Gil Birmingham, and Mo Brings Plenty reprise their roles in the spinoff, which also stars Logan Marshall-Green, Arielle Kebbel, Ash Santos, and Tatanka Means.

Marshals, Sundays, 8/7c, CBS