What Is the Chicago TV Franchise
The Chicago TV franchise is a group of American police and fire procedural dramas created by Dick Wolf and produced by Wolf Entertainment and Universal Television. The franchise currently includes Chicago Fire, Chicago P.D., Chicago Med, and Chicago Justice, all set in Chicago and airing on NBC. The series share a fictional city setting, overlapping characters, and a production model based on long-running episodic television with ensemble casts and case-of-the-week storytelling.
The franchise began with Chicago Fire in 2012, followed by Chicago P.D. in 2014, Chicago Med in 2015, and Chicago Justice in 2017. As of the latest public data, Chicago Fire and Chicago P.D. remain the longest-running entries, with Chicago Med also maintaining a steady schedule. The shows are primarily filmed in Chicago and Los Angeles, with production handled by Wolf Entertainment and distributed by NBCUniversal Television Distribution.
Networks, Ratings, and Scheduling
All Chicago series air on NBC in the United States and are available for streaming on Peacock and, in some regions, on Netflix under licensing agreements. The franchise consistently ranks among the top-rated dramas on broadcast television, with Chicago Fire and Chicago P.D. frequently placing in Nielsen's weekly top 10 programs. Scheduling typically follows a fall-to-spring broadcast calendar, with episodes airing on Wednesdays and Sundays in recent seasons.
Ratings data from NBC and Nielsen show the Chicago franchise as a reliable performer for the network, often drawing between 6 and 9 million viewers per episode depending on the series and season. The shows are supported by advertising revenue and syndication deals, with reruns airing in broadcast syndication and on cable networks such as USA Network.
Production, Cast, and Format
Each Chicago series follows a procedural format, focusing on a specific emergency service: firefighters for Chicago Fire, police detectives and intelligence for Chicago P.D., and doctors and paramedics for Chicago Med. The shows use a mix of standalone episodes and multi-episode story arcs, with recurring and guest characters crossing over between series.
The main casts include actors such as Jesse Spencer, Taylor Kinney, Kara Killmer, Jason Beghe, Marina Squerciati, and Nick Gehlfuss, among others. Production companies include Wolf Entertainment, Universal Television, and, for some seasons, CBS Studios. For more details on the production structure, you can refer to the official Wolf Entertainment overview Wolf Entertainment and NBC's programming page NBC Chicago.