ABC moved “High Potential” to midseason on Tuesday, shifting the crime drama out of the Tuesday 10 p.m. slot it had filled last fall and handing that hour to “R.J. Decker” in the network’s 2026 fall schedule.
The change gives ABC one of the clearest signs yet that it wants the third season of “High Potential” to play straight through without interruption. Ari Goldman said the decision grew out of the network’s recent run with “Will Trent” and “The Rookie,” both of which have benefited from January launches that carried through the end of the season. He said ABC was looking at both linear viewers and streaming audiences, which have rewarded steadier weekly rollouts.
Goldman said ABC was not yet ready to discuss how many episodes Season 3 would include, but added that the network still expects a “really full season” for the series. Season 2 of “High Potential” ran 18 episodes, and said it would push the show hard before it returns. Goldman said viewers would be well aware of its comeback and that ABC would have the show “all over” the network as the return nears.
The network’s fall lineup also reflects a bigger gamble on “R.J. Decker,” which had been one of ABC’s bubble shows and narrowly avoided cancellation. Goldman said it opened strongly and held up through its season, adding that its linear ratings never dropped below 3 million viewers and that streaming delivered the show’s biggest week to date after the finale. The new assignment to Tuesday at 10 p.m. puts it in the slot “High Potential” occupied last fall, but with a different job: helping ABC test a new drama while “Dancing with the Stars” supplies a heavy lead-in.
ABC described the coming season as its most stable schedule ever because every scripted series on the network is coming back. Goldman said that had never happened before in the history of ABC, which dates to 1948. The move matters because it settles two questions at once: how ABC will use one of its most reliable dramas, and whether “R.J. Decker” can hold a prime late-night hour after only barely surviving the network’s renewal cut.
