The summer months often mean unscripted competition shows on the major TV networks, and that has largely been the same in the 2025 TV schedule. NBC had a new show to pair with mainstay America’s Got Talent this time, however, and I wasn’t sure that even the AGT lead-in would be enough to secure Destination X a regular weekly audience. Well, the ratings are in for early days of the summer season, and the Destination X/AGT pair could be exactly what NBC needs in the summer from now on!
Between two hours of America’s Got Talent’s milestone 20th season and one hour of Jeffrey Dean Morgan’s Destination X, Deadline reports that the shows having been doing well enough to make NBC Tuesdays the #1 entertainment night of the summer so far.
The outlet reports numbers from NBCUniversal that total 24 million viewers this summer for AGT across NBC and Peacock, while Destination X has reached 14 million across both platforms. (You can keep up with both shows on Tuesday nights or by streaming with a Peacock subscription.) Normally, a discrepancy of ten million would be a big deal, but not so much when we're talking about the consistent summer winner and a brand new show.
Plus, considering that Destination X got off to a somewhat convoluted start and even Jeffrey Dean Morgan had his doubts about hosting, I’m officially surprised to see the freshman travel competition series doing so well.
Less surprisingly, AGT after seven days ranks as the top entertainment series of summer 2025 in total views. Assuming that the dominance continues through the rest of the season, then AGT will be the #1 broadcast summer alternative series for total viewers for the 20th consecutive year. Talk about a way to celebrate a milestone season!
An interesting piece of data for Destination X is that the show rose in viewership by 52% for its third episode. Not every series can increase its audience size following a premiere, but the post-AGT option likely earned the boost by introducing Love Island USA’s JaNa Craig and Bachelor Nation’s Peter Weber in that episode.
Considering that the first reality celebrity contestant – former Big Brother winner Josh Martinez – was eliminated in the premiere, I can imagine that the timing was ideal for Craig and Weber’s arrivals. Both are currently still in the running for the grand prize as well. Weber hasn’t even been sent to the Map Room yet, so he’s having a pretty good run so far… even if he does have the edge over most of the other contestants of being able to join a couple episodes in.
NBC clearly has a good thing going on Tuesday nights this summer, and I’d be absolutely shocked to my core if news breaks that America’s Got Talent is ending with Season 20. I’m more curious about the future of Destination X. Jeffrey Dean Morgan is a prolific actor who had to be convinced by wife HIlarie Burton to take on the hosting gig in the first place. I can also imagine that filming across Europe could be increasingly complicated moving forward. With the numbers that Destination X is generating so far, however, perhaps it’s a show that will be a summer staple alongside AGTx for years to come.
For now, just keep tuning in to NBC on Tuesdays starting at 8 p.m. ET for new episodes of America’s Got Talent and Destination X. You can also stream next day on Peacock.
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