Chicago PD season 7: A closer look at the schedule

What does Chicago PD season 7’s schedule reveal about the upcoming season? Look at how Chicago PD fits into NBC’s schedule and its competition.

With a new season of Chicago PD, comes a new schedule for fans to look at and wonder: What does that mean? How could it affect the show?

A TV show’s schedule is perhaps the one thing fans overlook each season. Where a show is placed and what it’s up against matter to a series’ success, and thus its chances for renewal. It’s not only about what’s on the screen.

Is it in a good time slot or a bad one? Will it end up getting preempted at some point? Is it going up against bigger or more highly-rated competition? Does it just not make sense?

So with all these questions in mind, it’s time to take a look at the Chicago PD season 7 schedule and see what we can find out.

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Time slot: Wednesdays at 10 p.m. ET/PT

History: Chicago PD returns to the same time slot it’s occupied for its entire run. It’s the only show that didn’t move when NBC decided to create a unified One Chicago night of programming.

However, it’s also the only show that didn’t see a major increase in ratings because of the change in organization. There were numerous evenings last season where PD was the lowest rated of the One Chicago series.

It wasn’t suddenly terrible (episodes still regularly brought in around 6 million live eyeballs), but there was a noticeable difference when its ratings were compared to the big numbers posted by Chicago Med and Chicago Fire. So this is the show that has a little work to do when the new season starts.

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Direct competition in this same time slot: Stumptown (ABC), SWAT (CBS), local news (FOX and The CW)

Competitive landscape: Due to some broadcast TV networks airing 10 p.m. news, Chicago PD has the fewest competitors of the One Chicago series. However, that doesn’t mean it has things easy; far from it.

The Intelligence Unit will be facing off with one of the most heavily promoted and highly awaited new series in ABC‘s Cobie Smulders vehicle Stumptown, which features the Avengers and How I Met Your Mother actress as a private detective. It also goes against SWAT, another police drama that was pretty competitive with PD last season.

So the two series that our cop drama has to compete with are right in the same wheelhouse, and both should draw viewers—the latter is established and the former, while a new series, has a big name attached and a lot of hype.

Plus, there’s been a general decline in PD‘s ratings last season compared to what it used to do. It used to regularly win Wednesdays for NBC, but started coming in third, fourth or fifth as both Med and Fire eclipsed it. Are viewers just falling out of love with Intelligence after the big changes that the show has gone through over the last two seasons? Whether it’s that or the competition, or both, these are some precarious waters.

Prognosis: Chicago PD season 7 has some work to do if it wants to catch up to the high numbers that the rest of the One Chicago franchise is regularly posting. It’s become obvious that the show isn’t quite on pace because of how strongly Fire and Med have performed. But it’s not so obvious why the decline is happening, so keep an eye on this and we’ll have to see if there’s a trend that emerges once the new episodes start.

For the latest Chicago PD season 7 spoilers and news, plus more on the entire series, follow the Chicago PD category at One Chicago Center.