It's no secret that people love NBC's Chicago shows, but the trio of shows set in the Windy City have now had a truly great night. While the shows have been on a roll, especially since debuting the #OneChicago Wednesday lineup at the start of fall premiere season this year, they really don't show any signs of slowing down now. The fall finales for Chicago Med, Chicago Fire and Chicago P.D. made sure that the network won the night in total viewers.
Chicago Med, which started the night off, became the number one show of the night on the Big 4 networks, with a 1.2 rating in the 18-49 demographic and an impressive 8.1 million viewers overall from 8-9 p.m. ET. The medical drama also managed to better its showing from last season's fall finale, with an increase of over 9% in its rating for the 18-49 demo, while adding over 31% to its total viewers, which went from 6.196 million to 8.129 million. These numbers put the show ahead of Survivor on CBS, Empire on Fox and ABC's comedies The Goldbergs and American Housewife.
Even though Chicago Med was preempted for the past two previous weeks, it still came back strong and actually held on to all of its prior telecast rating in the key demo, which equals the show's high since October 10, and grew its total viewers over 8% from that previous broadcast. The fall finale is also expected to add a significant number of viewers because of time-shifting and video on demand, once those numbers begin to come in.
Chicago Fire came in second overall for the night on the Big 4 networks, making it second only to Chicago Med. The firehouse drama, which saw a major cast departure in the season premiere, also received a 1.2 rating in the 18-49 demo, and managed to bring in 7.9 million total viewers. Compared to last year's fall finale, the show jumped more than 20% in the key demo rating and over 35% in total viewers, from 5.876 million to 7.911 million. Chicago Fire won its time slot in both the key demo rating and total viewers, putting it ahead of SEAL Team on CBS, Star on Fox and the comedy duo of Modern Family and Single Parents on ABC.
The Chicago Fire fall finale was the first telecast in three weeks, but the total number of viewers went up by over 9%, with the demo rating and total viewers expected to rise dramatically when video on demand and time shifted viewing are added to the numbers.
And, if you were thinking that maybe Chicago P.D. didn't carry its weight for NBC just because it didn't place third overall among the Big 4 networks, well, you'd be wrong. The hard boiled police drama netted a 1.1 rating in the 18-49 demo, with 6.8 million viewers overall, and won its time slot in two key demo ratings (18-49 and 25-54), along with winning in total viewers and all other key measures. The numbers put it ahead of ABC's A Million Little Things and serial killer drama Criminal Minds on CBS in the key demo by over 57%, and ahead of Criminal Minds in total viewers by over 52%.
Chicago P.D. was also preempted for the previous two weeks, but was able to come back and increase its key rating by more than 10% and its total viewers by over 14%, compared to the last broadcast. And, you guessed it, these numbers will only get better once time shifted and video on demand viewing numbers are added in.
All of the Chicago shows are a bit long in the tooth as of this fall, with Chicago Fire in Season 7, Chicago P.D. in Season 6 and Chicago Med being the relative baby in Season 4. It's quite clear from the numbers, though, that people are still all-in when it comes to Chicago drama. Could one or more of these shows go on to continued success for as long as many of Dick Wolf's other dramas? Only time will tell, but, right now, the chances look pretty good.
