“The Pitt” has officially avoided the sophomore slump, with Season 2 averaging 16.2 million viewers in the U.S. to date, per HBO Max, an impressive and increasingly unique 57% rise from its first run.
While the Noah Wyle-led medical drama closed out its second installment to series-high ratings that doubled the audience of the Season 1 finale, several other streaming shows are seeing declining numbers for their sophomore seasons, including some recent Netflix binge releases.
Kate Hudson-led “Running Point” debuted Season 2 to 5.3 million views on Netflix last week, sliding down from the 9.3 million views Season 1 tallied in its first week in 2025. Likewise, “Beef” Season 2 debuted to only 2.4 million views on Netflix in its premiere week and took the last spot on Netflix’s most-watched TV list, but climbed to No. 3 in its second week with 4.1 million views. Beef Season 1 debuted as the No. 3 most-watched TV show of the week back in 2023, before Netflix changed their viewership metrics methodology so data comparison isn’t apples-to-apples.
While it’s undeniable “The Pitt” benefitted from awards chatter and an eager — to say the least — fanbase, the HBO Max medical drama benefits from a predictable release schedule that other streamers could learn from. Its weekly cadence has set it up for success, giving both its fans space to convene weekly in the wake of a new episode as well as a more approachable midseason entry point for first-time watchers, which can be seen in the weekly gains gathered by the show.
“The Pitt” returned on Nielsen’s weekly streaming list in January to a new weekly viewership high upon its Season 2 premiere, which garnered 939 million minutes. Viewership quickly spiked to over 1 billion viewing minutes per week, growing for another three weeks before sliding down slightly, and later remaining stagnant, though never dropping below the viewership milestone seen in the Season 2 premiere week. By the release of its 12th episode of the season, “The Pitt” nearly matched its previous series high with 1.21 billion viewing minutes.
In fact, with numbers for just 12 out of the 15 episodes reported, Nielsen figures bring “The Pitt” Season 2 viewing to 8.3 billion minutes, setting the scene to eclipse the 11.4 billion minutes the show tallied in 2025. And when combining viewing for both seasons, “The Pitt” has amassed 13.2 billion viewing minutes overall since Season 2’s launch, demonstrating new viewers are catching up on Season 1 amid the sophomore installment’s rollout.
“The Pitt” also benefits from sharing a streamer with HBO powerhouse programming like “The White Lotus” or “The Last of Us,” but the weekly release strategy helps shows beyond HBO Max. Look at reality shows like “The Traitors” and “Love Island USA” on Peacock, which have grown into must-watch appointment television boosting viewership season after season.
Several other streaming shows have had luck with ratings growth in their second season thanks to a staggered approach for release. Hulu’s “Paradise” saw its three-episode Season 2 drop boost the Dan Fogelman-created series to a new Nielsen weekly high of 950 million viewing minutes. The same rise can be seen in Prime Video’s “Gen V,” which similarly saw a weekly high of 424 million minutes viewed for its Season 2 launch’s three-episode drop back in September before dropping off the list.
While “Paradise” secured another season order from Hulu in accordance with Fogelman’s envisioned three-season arc amid growing awards buzz, “Gen V” couldn’t sustain its momentum with Season 2, which explains why Prime Video canceled “The Boys” spinoff last week.
Since ratings growth isn’t the only deciding factor to justify an additional season renewal during this moment in the industry, making a series stand out in the larger cultural conversation is paramount — just look at the discussion surrounding Carolyn Bessette-Kennedy’s fashion and her relationship with JFK Jr. that helped boost “Love Story” to become FX’s most-watched limited series ever on Disney+ and Hulu. A second installment for that Ryan Murphy-produced series remains in question, too.
NBA ratings milestones continue
Fresh off of closing out the biggest regular season audience the NBA has seen in 24 years, the season is now averaging 3.84 million viewers for games on ABC, NBC, ESPN and Prime Video, marking a 7% rise from games on ABC, ESPN and TNT in the same period last year.
That increase rises to 20%, however, when including games last year on NBA TV, which averaged 3.2 million, which marks the most-viewed playoffs through the first 27 telecasts since 1993.
Stanley Cup Playoffs pay off for TNT
Another sports ratings rise is happening on the ice, with viewership for the 2026 NHL Stanley Cup Playoffs up 67% from last year with coverage across TNT, TBS, truTV and HBO Max averaging 1.1 million viewers, marking the best start for the NHL playoffs since the networks acquired NHL hockey rights in 2021.
Most recently, Minnesota’s Game 4 victory over Dallas on Saturday gathered 1.9 million viewers on TBS, truTV and HBO Max, up 127% over last year’s comparable window, ranking as the No. 1 most-watched first round game on TNT Sports ever, excluding Game 7s. Game 4 of Pittsburgh-Philadelphia similarly rose 86% from last year’s comparable window.
CNN and MS NOW see viewership gains
Both CNN and MS NOW are seeing viewership gains, with MS Now scoring its fifth consecutive month of year-over-year growth in April, which saw viewership rise 20% among total viewers and ratings rise 43% in the 25-54 demo, according to Nielsen. CNN is also seeing year-over-year growth after closing out April with a 66% rise in the 25-54 demo and an 85% increase in total viewers.
ICYMI:
- Charlize Theron’s “Apex” scored an impressive debut on Netflix that boosted the action flick to the top of Netflix’s most-watched film list for the week.
- Tony Dokoupil’s “CBS Evening News” era keeps hemorrhaging viewers to record lows.
- “American Idol” viewership rose for the sixth consecutive week with Monday’s Taylor Swift night, scoring its best audience in over two months.
