Why Justin Hartley Attributes Tracker’s Success to Taylor Swift
Tracker’s success on CBS brings great pride to Justin Hartley, who notably credits Taylor Swift for contributing to its impressive viewership.
On the Tuesday, May 5 episode of Tommy DiDario’s “I’ve Never Said This Before” podcast, Hartley, 49, discussed how Super Bowl LVIII served as a lead-in for Tracker on CBS, mentioning, “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 portrays Colter, emphasized the significance of the NFL matchup.
“This particular game featured Travis Kelce, and Taylor Swift made an appearance,” Hartley recalled. “I thought, ‘If she shows up to this game…’ then she did, and I was thinking, ‘It’s over, we’re all set. We’re going to get 900 billion views. This is going to be insane because they’re going to cut to her multiple times and the world’s going to go wild. This is fantastic.’”
He continued, “Then the game went into overtime. I thought, ‘No.’ But it kept going, and we premiered at about 11:30 PM, and we did well.”
Based on Jeffery Deaver’s novel The Never Game, Tracker portrays Colter, a survivalist helping people and law enforcement in their quest to uncover various mysteries. As the series progresses, viewers discover how Colter’s past has shaped his present existence as a lone wolf.
Hartley serves as both the lead actor and an executive producer of the show, which quickly garnered an audience upon its premiere. After debuting following the Super Bowl in February 2024, Tracker achieved the highest broadcast premiere viewership in three years. The previous record was held by NCIS’ final episode featuring Mark Harmon in September 2021.
Viewership continued to soar, with CBS announcing in December 2024 that Tracker averaged 18.2 million viewers per episode, as per their Paramount+ and broadcast metrics.
With Tracker consistently breaking TV records and boosting viewership numbers, Hartley attributed the show’s distinct storytelling as a key factor in its success.
“One of the aspects I truly appreciate about Colter and our character development is that he doesn’t apologize for his masculinity,” he expressed in an interview with Men’s Journal in August 2025. “I believe that’s what people seek. You want to consider, ‘What kind of individuals do I want to surround myself with?’ Especially, ‘Which male friends in my life do I hold in high regard?’”
Hartley was elated with the example they are able to establish through Colter.
“We’ve created a character that is emotionally evolved, genuinely interested in understanding why people behave the way they do,” Hartley went on. “The reality is that [executive producer] Ken Olin and I aimed to create a show that serves as a throwback. We aimed for a fresh take on a procedural format, where our character would evolve over time.”
Hartley concluded, “He wouldn’t just remain static every week. We had hope that people would embrace it, and they ended up loving it. There’s a significant desire for this type of show.”
Tracker airs on CBS Sundays at 9 p.m. ET.
