The 2025-26 TV season has drawn to a close, and it was another incredible season for NBC’s One Chicago shows. The trio of Chicago Fire, Chicago Med, and Chicago PD continues to captivate audiences worldwide, with the One Chicago shows showing no signs of slowing down. Fans cannot get enough of the shows, but by looking at the final viewership numbers for the season it is clear that fan interest definitely varies slightly series to series.
With the season complete, Matt’s Inside Line has released the list of the 20 most-watched shows of the 2025-26 season, which reveals which shows drew the most viewers this season. While each of the One Chicago shows make it into the Top 20, only two of the shows manage to crack the Top 10, with Chicago PD falling short of making the cut.
Of the Top 20 non-sports programs of the season, Chicago PD ranked 13th overall with an average of 6.38 million total viewers. Meanwhile, Chicago Fire (7.17 million total viewers) narrowly outpaced Chicago Med (7.11 million total viewers) to claim the No. 7 overall spot on the list, followed directly by Chicago Med at No. 8, as seen in the chart below breaking down the full list:
Show | Total Viewers | Network |
|---|---|---|
1. Tracker | 10.6 million viewers | CBS |
2. Marshals | 9.77 million viewers | CBS |
3. 60 Minutes | 9.2 million viewers | CBS |
4. High Potential | 8.11 million viewers | ABC |
5. Dancing with the Stars | 7.58 million viewers | ABC |
6. NCIS | 7.26 million viewers | CBS |
7. Chicago Fire | 7.17 million viewers | NBC |
8. Chicago Med | 7.11 million viewers | NBC |
9. Matlock | 6.97 million viewers | CBS |
10. George & Mandy's First Marriage | 6.84 million viewers | CBS |
11. Will Trent | 6.82 million viewers | ABC |
12. FBI | 6.54 million viewers | CBS |
13. Chicago PD | 6.38 million viewers | NBC |
14. Sheriff Country | 6.33 million viewers | CBS |
15. American Idol | 6.19 million viewers | ABC |
16. Ghosts | 6.16 million viewers | CBS |
17. Elsbeth | 6.05 million viewers | CBS |
18. Survivor | 6.02 million viewers | CBS |
19. Boston Blue | 5.99 million viewers | CBS |
20. 911 | 5.51 million viewers | ABC |
It’s certainly disappointing to see that Chicago PD failed to crack the Top 10, but not entirely surprising. Of the three One Chicago shows, Chicago PD has historically ranked as the least-watched series in the franchise, with Chicago Med and Chicago Fire often battling it out for the top spot in the franchise.
While Chicago PD missed the Top 10, it still ranked as the third-most-watched NBC non-sports program of the year, with all three One Chicago shows holding it down for NBC at the top of the network’s leaderboard. In fact, the One Chicago shows were the only non-sports NBC programs to crack this year’s Top 20 most-watched shows, with hits like The Voice, Law & Order: SVU, and Happy’s Place all failing to crack the list.
This just goes to show that even the worst-performing show in the One Chicago franchise is still performing stronger than any other NBC non-sports program. To say this is an amazing feat for the franchise is an understatement, as it’s quite an incredible achievement for all three One Chicago shows to rank among the most-watched shows on broadcast when all three series have been on the air for over ten seasons each at this point!
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