The second season of “The Golden Bachelor” and new spinoff series “9-1-1: Nashville” will lead ABC’s 2025-26 schedule.
The second installment of “The Golden Bachelor,” which follows NFL alum Mel Owens, will air Wednesdays at 9 p.m., following new episodes of “Shifting Gears” and “Abbott Elementary” this fall. After the reality series, ABC will usher in a new time slot for “Shark Tank,” which moves from its previous Friday spot to air Wednesdays at 10 p.m.
Disney Television Group president Craig Erwich told TheWrap the Wednesday 10 p.m. timeslot has had recent success in the past year but has had several shows cycle through, so they wanted what he calls a “signature show” in the hour. “Shark Tank” is “a show that’s beloved, that the audience knows where to find it, that the audience will seek it out.” Erwich also noted it will offer a strong lead-in for local news at 11 p.m. on Wednesdays, while slotting in the “perfect show” for Fridays at 8 p.m. in “Celebrity Wheel of Fortune,” which will see Ryan Seacrest make his evening debut, followed by a two-hour installment of “20/20.”
“9-1-1: Nashville,” which marks the only new series coming to the network this fall, will launch Thursdays at 9 p.m., anchored by flagship series “9-1-1,” which will air at 8 p.m., before “Grey’s Anatomy” airs at 10 p.m. on Thursdays. The show takes over the timeslot from “Doctor Odyssey,” which remains in limbo ahead of its Season 1 finale on Thursday, but has not been officially axed at the network.
“We’re continuing to have creative conversations with Ryan [Murphy] about what a next chapter would look like,” Erwich said.
ABC will also welcome back Kaitlin Olson-led “High Potential” for a second season airing Tuesdays at 10 p.m. after a new season of “Dancing With the Stars.” As usual, most Mondays in the fall will be filled by ESPN’s “Monday Night Football,” with a detailed schedule coming later this week.
On Saturdays, college football will kick off at 7:30 p.m. and on Sundays, “America’s Funniest Home Videos” will start the night at 7 p.m. before the network airs various films under “The Wonderful World of Disney” umbrella beginning at 8 p.m. This segment will include the world TV premieres of “Guardians of the Galaxy: Vol 3,” “Elemental,” “Avatar: The Way of Water” and the broadcast premiere of “Wakanda Forever.”
New seasons of returning series “American Idol,” “Celebrity Jeopardy!,” “The Rookie” and “Will Trent” are also all set to debut in 2026.
“Will Trent,” which will return for its fourth season next year, is a unique success story on its own, with the show notably growing its viewership year-over-year this past year, according to Erwich, which is rare for a broadcast series. He further noted that broadcast gives the opportunity to repeat the pilot, which ABC SVP of content strategy and scheduling Ari Goldman did seven or eight times.
“Every time we repeated the pilot, we just added a few more viewers, recruited more people into the tent of ‘Will Trent’ and the momentum really started to kick in,” Erwich shared, adding that he sees the same growth potential for “High Potential,” which will be paired with “Will Trent” on Tuesdays in 2026.
With ABC only launching one new show this fall, Erwich said there’s no formula for how many new shows the network needs each season: “You have to have a show that you absolutely love, that you’re passionate about, that you think is worth the time of the very busy viewers … our success has been focusing on a few shows at a time and really giving those the launches that they deserve.”
ABC also recently ordered a drama pilot for “RJ Decker,” which follows a “disgraced newspaper photographer and ex-con who starts over as a private investigator,” which could potentially air midseason if greenlit. “We launch shows year-round when they’re ready — when the shows are ready and we’re ready — and we think we can make them hits and give them the attention that they need,” Erwich said.
For ABC’s full 2025-26 schedule, see below.
Mondays
- 8-11 p.m. — ESPN’s “Monday Night Football”
Tuesdays
- 8-10 p.m. — “Dancing With the Stars”
- 10-11 p.m. — “High Potential”
Wednesdays
- 8-8:30 p.m. — “Shifting Gears”
- 8:30-9 p.m. — “Abbott Elementary”
- 9-10 p.m. — “The Golden Bachelor”
- 10-11 p.m. — “Shark Tank”
Thursdays
- 8-9 p.m. — “9-1-1”
- 9-10 p.m. — “9-1-1: Nashville”
- 10-11 p.m. — “Grey’s Anatomy”
Fridays
- 8-9 p.m. — “Celebrity Wheel of Fortune”
- 9-11 p.m. — “20/20” (two hours)
Saturdays
- 7:30 p.m. — College Football
Sundays
- 7-8 p.m. — “America’s Funniest Home Videos”
- 8 p.m. — “The Wonderful World of Disney”
The post ‘The Golden Bachelor,’ ‘9-1-1: Nashville’ Lead ABC’s 2025-26 Lineup appeared first on TheWrap.