NBC has renewed five series for the 2024-2025 season: “Chicago Fire,” “Chicago Med,” “Chicago P.D.,” “Law & Order” and “Law & Order: SVU.”
All five of the retuning shows are produced by Universal Television, a division of Universal Studio Group, in association with Wolf Entertainment. There is one notable series that isn’t on that renewal list. The fate of “Law & Order: Organized Crime” is still being discussed, according to an insider familiar with the matter.
It’s not too surprising that NBC would choose to renew these particular series. All three of Dick Wolf’s “Chicago” series rank among the top 10 entertainment shows of the season in terms of total viewers. They’re also the top three Wednesday shows for the season when it comes to total viewers.
These series have also seen double and triple digit growth compared to their viewership last season. “Chicago Fire” is currently averaging 12.6 million viewers, an increase of 86%, and has seen an increase of 236% in the 18-to-49 demo. “Chicago P.D.” saw a 114% increase in total viewers, bringing its average viewer count to 12 million, as well as a 287% increase in the demo. Finally, “Chicago Med” is averaging 10.5 million viewers, a 57% jump in total viewership and a 141% increase in the demo.
The two renewed “Law & Order” series have seen similar growth as “SVU” currently ranks as the No. 1 Thursday entertainment show in the demo. The flagship legal drama is averaging 7.7 million this season, an increase of 56% in terms of total viewers and an increase of 122% in the demo. Likewise, “Law & Order: SVU” is averaging 11.2 million viewers, a 111% increase in total viewership as well as a 325% increase in the demo.
“Law & Order: Organized Crime” being in renewal limbo is just the latest complicated saga surrounding this particular NBC show. The first showrunner for the series was Matt Olmstead, who later stepped down in the fall of 2020 and was replaced by Ilene Chaiken. She was then replaced by Barry O’Brien in 2022, who was then replaced by Bryan Goluboff for Season 3. That season saw the most disorder with Goluboff being replaced by Sean Jablonski, who was then replaced by David Graziano for the final episodes of the season. The fourth installment of the legal drama was helmed by John Shiban.
