Tracker Season 3 Locks In 2026 Return — And A New Time Slot
Tracker is on the move: CBS’s hit action drama will return in 2026 with a new time slot after launching Season 3 on October 19, 2025 and pausing for a midseason break.
If you have been waiting for Tracker to get back to the business of finding missing people and stirring up family drama, CBS just locked in its return date — with a timeslot shuffle that puts it in a new Sunday groove.
So when is Tracker actually back?
Per CBS, Tracker Season 3 returns with new episodes on Sunday, March 1, 2025, now airing at 9:00 PM ET instead of its current 8:00 PM ET slot. That earlier hour gets handed to Y: Marshals, the Yellowstone spinoff built around Luke Grimes as Kayce Dutton, which premieres the same night.
Quick refresher on how we got here
The series first launched on February 11, 2024. Season 2 arrived October 13, 2024. The current run — Season 3 — premiered October 19, 2025 and is set to take a midseason break in December before resuming in the new year.
Why the move?
It is part of CBS' 2025-2026 midseason lineup shuffle. The network is using that 8 PM slot to launch Y: Marshals, which makes sense — you lead a new franchise show into a proven hit, then let Tracker anchor 9 PM. Programming Tetris at its finest.
What is Tracker again?
Developed by Ben H. Winters from Jeffery Deaver's 2019 novel The Never Game, the show follows Justin Hartley's Colter Shaw, an expert survivalist with unnervingly good tracking skills who finds missing people for law enforcement and private clients. Fiona Rene co-stars as Reenie Greene, with Chris Lee as Randy. The series has been a big performer for CBS; Season 1 holds an 89% approval rating on Rotten Tomatoes (19 reviews).
Cast changes you should know about
There has been some turnover lately. Before Season 3 launched, Abby McEnany (Velma) and Eric Graise (Bobby) exited. That follows Robin Weigert (Teddi) leaving after the first season.
Other CBS dates bundled into the same announcement
- Tracker Season 3: Returns Sunday, March 1, 2025 at 9:00 PM ET
- Y: Marshals: Premieres Sunday, March 1, 2025 at 8:00 PM ET
- Watson Season 2: CBS says it also returns on March 1 and will air at 10:00 PM ET in 2026
- Survivor 50: Debuts Tuesday, February 25
- America's Culinary Cup: Series premiere Tuesday, March 4
About those dates that do not quite line up
If you are doing the math: Season 3 premiered October 19, 2025, then goes on hiatus in December, and CBS says it returns March 1, 2025. Yeah — that does not track chronologically. The network also notes Watson Season 2 'returns on March 1' but will air at 10:00 PM ET in 2026. The simplest read is that some dates in the announcement are off by a year. Until CBS issues a clean grid, here is what you can bank on: Tracker moves to 9:00 PM ET on Sundays when it resumes, and Y: Marshals takes over 8:00 PM the same night it launches.