NBC’s Chicago Fire and Chicago Med continue proving the staying power of Dick Wolf’s Chicago franchise, both landing inside the Top 10 most-watched non-sports programs of the 2025-26 television season.
But surprisingly, Chicago P.D. narrowly missed joining them.
According to newly released end-of-season viewership rankings from Matt’s Inside Line, Chicago Fire finished as the No. 7 most-watched non-sports program on television with 7.17 million viewers, while Chicago Med landed immediately behind it at No. 8 with 7.11 million viewers.
Chicago P.D. came in at No. 13 overall with 6.38 million viewers.
Even so, the numbers reinforce just how dominant the One Chicago universe remains for NBC more than a decade into its run.
In fact, Fire, Med, and P.D. were the only NBC non-sports programs to crack this year’s Top 20 list, outperforming longtime staples like Law & Order: Special Victims Unit, The Voice, and freshman comedy Happy’s Place.
Here’s how the Top 20 most-watched non-sports shows of the 2025-26 season stacked up:
| Rank | Show | Viewers | Network |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Tracker | 10.6M | CBS |
| 2 | Marshals | 9.77M | CBS |
| 3 | 60 Minutes | 9.2M | CBS |
| 4 | High Potential | 8.11M | ABC |
| 5 | Dancing with the Stars | 7.58M | ABC |
| 6 | NCIS | 7.26M | CBS |
| 7 | Chicago Fire | 7.17M | NBC |
| 8 | Chicago Med | 7.11M | NBC |
| 9 | Matlock | 6.97M | CBS |
| 10 | George & Mandy’s First Marriage | 6.84M | CBS |
| 11 | Will Trent | 6.82M | ABC |
| 12 | FBI | 6.54M | CBS |
| 13 | Chicago P.D. | 6.38M | NBC |
| 14 | Sheriff Country | 6.33M | CBS |
| 15 | American Idol | 6.19M | ABC |
| 16 | Ghosts | 6.16M | CBS |
| 17 | Elsbeth | 6.05M | CBS |
| 18 | Survivor | 6.02M | CBS |
| 19 | Boston Blue | 5.99M | CBS |
| 20 | 9-1-1 | 5.51M | ABC |
While P.D. falling outside the Top 10 might initially feel surprising, it actually tracks with long-running trends inside the franchise itself. Historically, Fire and Med have consistently edged out P.D. in overall viewership, with Fire often leading the pack.
Still, there’s a larger takeaway here beyond the rankings themselves.
Very few broadcast franchises maintain this level of audience consistency after more than 10 seasons. Yet all three series continue to deliver millions of viewers weekly in an era when linear television audiences are shrinking across nearly every demographic.
That kind of longevity is increasingly rare. NBC’s Wednesday night lineup may quietly be one of the last true examples of old-school appointment television still functioning at scale.
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