‘The Rookie’ Season 8 Finale Sets Record: Will It Be ABC’s Most Successful Show?

With a title like The Rookie, viewers may expect an underdog type of show — but the hit ABC series’ ratings are anything but.

That’s because The Rookie earned massive season finale ratings and even set a streaming record in the process this spring.

The May 4 Season 8 finale of The Rookie racked up 9.25 million total viewers in Nielsen National Live+7 Day Big Data Plus, up 4% from Season 7 finale (8.93 million). Plus, it earned a series streaming high over seven days.

What’s more is that Season 8 was the fourth season in a row that The Rookie went up in total viewers.

The Nathan Fillion-starring patrol show’s post-pandemic growth is largely due to the fact that younger audiences discovered and embraced it on social media. It is the No. 1 broadcast drama among adults 18-34 and the No. 1 series overall among teens 12-17, based on Nielsen’s competitive multiplatform measurement over seven days.

Depending how you measure success, the show could be seen as ABC’s most successful scripted series, thanks to those viewership numbers.

However, based on pure ratings numbers, The Rookie is not ABC’s top dog — though it is near the top. Its season finale was outdone only by High Potential Season 2, which ended earlier this spring with 12.69 million total viewers, according to Nielsen live+7 multiplatform numbers. Those numbers for High Potential are down from the Season 1 finale (12.79 million) but up from its Season 2 premiere (11.99 million). Could The Rookie surge ahead of High Potential during its next season?

The Rookie will return for Season 9 in 2027, joined with the recently-ordered spinoff starring Jay Ellis, The Rookie: North — another sign of the show’s booming success.