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Tracker‘s success on CBS is a point of pride for Justin Hartley, who went out of his way to credit Taylor Swift for some of that overwhelming viewership.
During the Tuesday, May 5, episode of Tommy DiDario‘s “I’ve Never Said This Before” podcast, Hartley, 49, recalled how the Super Bowl LVIII worked as a lead in for Tracker on CBS, saying, “You never know how that’s going to go because you’re going to get a huge number because it’s the NFL and it’s the Super Bowl.”
The actor, who plays Colter, pointed out the significance of the NFL game.
“This particular one had Travis Kelce playing and Taylor Swift showed up at the game,” Hartley recalled. “I was like, ‘If she shows up to this game …’ And then she showed up to the game and I was like, ‘It’s over, we’re all set. We’re going to get 900 billion views. This is going to be crazy because they’re going to cut to her every couple of times and the world’s going to go insane. This is great.’”
He continued: “Then the game went into overtime. And I was like, ‘No.’ Then it kept going and we premiered at like 11:30 PM but we did good.”
Based on Jeffery Deaver‘s novel The Never Game, Tracker follows a survivalist named Colter who travels the country helping people and law enforcement tackle a variety of mysteries. As the series unfolds, viewers learn more about how Colter’s past shaped his current life as a lone wolf.
Hartley serves as both the lead and an executive producer on the show, which found its audience as soon as it premiered. After making its debut following the Super Bowl in February 2024, Tracker earned the most-watched broadcast premiere in three years. The show that previously held that title was NCIS‘ final episode with Mark Harmon in September 2021.
The viewership only increased from there, with CBS revealing in December 2024 that Tracker averaged 18.2 million viewers per episode according to their Paramount+ and broadcast measurements.
As Tracker continued to set TV records and raise viewership numbers, Hartley credited the storytelling for setting the show apart.
“One of the things I really love about Colter and the way we’ve built him is that he doesn’t apologize for his masculinity,” he told Men’s Journal in August 2025. “I think that’s what people are looking for. You’re asking yourself, ‘What kind of people do I want to hang out with?’ And particularly: ‘What kind of male friends do I have in my life that I really value?’”
Hartley was thrilled with the example they are able to set with Colter.
“I think we’ve crafted a character that is so emotionally evolved, and he really does want to get to the root of why people do things,” Hartley continued. “The facts are that [executive producer] Ken Olin and I set out to do a show that was in fact a throwback. We wanted a new spin on a procedural, meaning our character would evolve over time.”
Hartley added: “He would not just remain the same exact person every single week. We were hopeful people would like it. People ended up loving it. I think there’s a huge appetite for this kind of show.”
Tracker airs on CBS Sundays at 9 p.m. ET.
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