The future is bright for fans of NBC's One Chicago universe, with the shows not only returning for their winter premieres early in the 2025 TV schedule but also just weeks away from the first three-part crossover event since way back in 2019. So, it's fitting that details have emerged about the ratings and audience sizes for Chicago Fire, Chicago P.D., and Chicago Med for the first part of the 2024-2025 TV season, but the numbers aren't entirely what I was expecting. The medical drama is catching up to Chicago Fire!
I totally get it after the events of the fall finales of both shows and even Chicago P.D., but let's dig into the ratings information first.
How One Chicago Shows Compared In Ratings This Season So far
One element of the ratings and audience numbers courtesy of TVLine that isn't surprising is that the three shows of One Chicago rank first, second, and third for NBC's scripted programming in fall 2024. In fact, only one metric falls below a scripted show set elsewhere than the Windy City, and that's Law & Order: SVU edging out Chicago Med in the 18-49 age demographic rating.
Unsurprisingly, One Chicago's shows are all within 1 million total viewers and 0.04 rating of each other on average after seven days so far this season. Fire is winning as usual with an audience of 7.8 million and demo rating of 0.61, Med comes in second in viewership with 7.4 million but third in demo rating with 0.57. P.D. is third in audience size with 6.9 million but second in rating with 0.60.
And if all of this just seems like a lot of numbers, here's the kicker: the difference between Fire's 7.8 million and Med's 7.4 million is the smallest gap between the two shows in four seasons. Yes, Chicago Med is catching up to Chicago Fire, and I think I know why.
Chicago Med Season 10 Has Been Fantastic (With A Killer Fall Finale)
Chicago Med entered a new era in the fall with Season 10 bringing in new showrunner Allen MacDonald to replace former bosses Diane Frolov and Andrew Schneider. MacDonald watched the series from the very beginning to prepare to take over, and star Steven Weber praised how things are "getting gritty" with "more personal stories." In fact, as if he'd already known the end-of-year ratings data when we spoke ahead of the fall finale, Weber said:
Allen and [producer] Anna [Dokoza] are raising the bar, and the audience is coming there, as evidenced by our ratings. People are really digging the show and coming to it and looking forward to it, not just as comfort, but they're excited by it. That's a function of our new writers.
I'd also argue that Med had the strongest fall finale of the entire One Chicago world, and Med is historically not usually my favorite for premieres or finales. Even if I'm fairly confident that 2025 isn't going to begin with the drama killing off S. Epatha Merkerson's character, the cliffhanger with Goodwin's life in the balance was pretty masterful and set a high bar for the rest of the fall finales back in November. (All three fall finales are available streaming with a Peacock subscription now.)
And sure, Med has always had an advantage due to the 8 p.m. ET time slot that is still early enough for many folks to still want to watch TV, but I think the increase in stakes and new kinds of storytelling both contribute to Med's boost in the fall of 2024.
Chicago Fire Has Been Average
Chicago Fire has been totally fine in Season 13. I haven't missed an episode, and the founding One Chicago drama is still on top in both ratings metrics. The show doesn't seem to be in any trouble that Med is catching up. That said, this season hasn't been the most thrilling of the series to date, and the major cast departures of recent seasons – Jesse Spencer, Kara Killmer, and Eamonn Walker in particular – really started to be felt in the fall.
Fortunately, Severide is back full time despite missing the last episode of 2024, the good ship Stellaride has been staying afloat despite some bumps, and Dermot Mulroney's Chief Pascal has been an intriguing addition. Plus, as a longtime viewer, I was excited by how the fall finale brought none other than Cruz's brother Leon back for the first time in years to set up a storyline that could be a real blast to the past in 2025.
Still, Fire struck me as One Chicago's weakest fall finale of 2024, since it didn't quite have the kind of cliffhanger that Med did or the sky-high stakes that P.D. did. And speaking of Chicago P.D....
An Honorable Mention For Chicago P.D.
Chicago P.D.'s premieres and finales are usually my favorites of One Chicago, and I always want to defend the cop drama when it comes to ratings and viewership due to its late time slot. 10 p.m. ET shows generally attract smaller audiences. P.D. is averaging second place among NBC's scripted shows in the ratings and third behind Med for viewership, which isn't too shabby, and the fall finale was solid back in November with Reid drawing a line in the sand for Voight.
It is worth noting that the viewership is down 11% from last season, including a dip of 2% when it comes to retention of Chicago Fire's 9 p.m. ET audience. Timing suggests that it could be due to the show losing Tracy Spiridakos as Detective Hailey Upton, but given that Chicago Fire's viewership dropped by 8%, it might just be a trend of the fall on NBC. As the network's #4 show, SVU dropped by 18% in its first season after Law & Order: Organized Crime left Thursday nights.
Fortunately, fans don't have to wait long into the new year to see what's next for the three shows and whether I'll have to eat my words about Chicago Fire having an average season so far. NBC's One Chicago winter premieres air on Wednesday, January 8. As for the first three-show crossover since the "Infection" event of 2019, you can mark your calendars for January 29, although the order is switching up a bit. Instead of Med airing at 8 p.m. ET, Fire at 9 p.m. ET, and P.D. at 10 p.m. ET as usual, Med and Fire will swap time slots for the crossover.
