One Chicago fans want NBC streaming service for this big reason

Fans of Chicago Fire, Chicago PD and Chicago Med want the NBC streaming service to succeed because of one major effect on One Chicago.

Since the NBC streaming service was announced, One Chicago viewers have had mixed reactions—but there’s one big reason they’ll want to sign up when it launches next year.

Understandably, fans are wary of paying for a new streaming platform. A world that used to consist of Netflix and Hulu is now filled by a dozen different streamers, each with their own subscription fee, and for many viewers that’s on top of what they already shell out to watch regular TV each month.

In essence, watching TV online has become like cable—just instead of various cable packages, viewers are being asked to subscribe to a variety of streamers.

And now in 2020, NBCUniversal is entering the fray with their own online platform, which has already taken back The Office from Netflix and is in the process of “bringing home” more shows in preparation for a spring launch.

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With the One Chicago shows being some of NBC‘s biggest hits, and also being produced by Universal Television, it’s more than possible that Chicago Fire and its spinoffs will leave Hulu for the new service next year—especially since NBC’s parent company Comcast declared in May that they’re on their way out of Hulu.

Now there’s been some movement over the weekend with another NBCU series that sheds even more light on the situation, and should have fans rooting for exactly that transition.

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NBC’s sister channel SyFy cancelled its Superman prequel Krypton on Friday and also scrapped plans for a spinoff series. The biggest part of that decision was that SyFy has no ownership stake in the Warner Bros./DC Entertainment produced show—which means that they made very little money off its streaming viewers.

That, in turn, meant SyFy’s only source of profit off Krypton was the people watching it live on TV, and there weren’t enough.

How is that relevant to Chicago Fire, Chicago Med and Chicago PD? Because now that Disney has Hulu, the One Chicago shows are also on a platform owned by someone else.

NBCU does have a stake in all three series, since they’re handled by Universal Television, so it’s not quite as dire as the Krypton situation. But moving them to an NBCU-owned streamer gives the company an additional reason to support them. The franchise already dominates Wednesdays in live viewers; if they become a founding part of this new streamer, then that’s double the reason to keep them going.

And that’s going to be the biggest source of extra revenue for One Chicago. Only Chicago PD has been able to bring in any money from syndication, even though Chicago Fire has enough episodes and Chicago Med will soon reach that magic number. For some reason, other networks aren’t interested in buying reruns of the other two shows.

Keep in mind that Chicago Fire is entering its eighth season, and Chicago PD will be starting its seventh. Older series are more expensive to produce—with things like talent renegotiating their contracts or just the increased cost of making the show—so bringing in that extra revenue from streaming could also help keep the franchise on the air, because that would help NBC’s bottom line.

No announcement about any of the Chicago shows has been made yet, as the NBC streaming service is still months away from launching. But if you’re a fan, that subscription fee might end up helping your favorite series.

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