Once again, the One Chicago universe is staking its claim as one of the most watched and most popular franchises on television. As if all three of the series surpassing 10 seasons and being among NBC's biggest original shows wasn't evidence enough, one particular title in the franchise just made a stunning accomplishment for a broadcast show in the streaming era.
On May 28, Nielsen revealed the Top 25 most-watched shows of the 2025-2026 television season across multi-platform viewership on broadcast, cable, and streaming services. The peak position was easily taken by Stranger Things, which burst onto Netflix in the final weeks of 2025 with its last batches of episodes and brought averaged 32.9 million viewers in 35 days.
Chicago Fire makes over Top 25 shows ranking
Even though it's not near the top of the leaderboard, despite ranking in the Top 10 most-watched broadcast shows of the season, Chicago Fire managed to represent the One Chicago franchise in the Top 25 multi-platform shows for the season. Chicago Med and Chicago PD aren't included in this particular ranking, but there's no doubt they follow closely behind.
Chicago Fire holds down the fort at No. 21 with 9.9 million viewers, in a three-way tie with CBS sitcom Georgie & Mandy's First Marriage and Prime Video action drama The Boys. Nielsen measures Chicago Fire's viewership across its airings on NBC and its streaming returns on Peacock, the platform where past and new episodes are exclusively available to stream.
The long-running procedural narrowly missed ranking within the Top 20, where the show is neck and neck with the show ranked at No. 19, fellow veteran procedural NCIS. The CBS smash brought in 10 million viewers between its broadcast network and streaming on Paramount+. Without question, these shows making this ranking are proof that procedural franchises are still beloved.
Making this ranking as TV hits that have been around for decades is quite the accomplishment, but they aren't the only broadcast series on the list. Aside from Fire, NCIS, and Georgie & Mandy, other small-screen favorites such as Tracker, High Potential, Matlock, The Rookie, and more made the overall Top 25 and rank even higher above Chicago Fire. Check out the full list below:
TV Show | Total Viewers | Network/Streamer |
|---|---|---|
1. Stranger Things | 32.9 million viewers | Netflix |
2. His & Hers | 25.6 million viewers | Netflix |
3. Marshals | 20.7 million viewers | CBS/Paramount+ |
4. Sean Combs: The Reckoning | 20.6 million viewers | Netflix |
5. Landman | 19.8 million viewers | Paramount+ |
6. Bridgerton | 18.3 million viewers | Netflix |
7. Tracker | 16.4 million viewers | CBS/Paramount+ |
8. High Potential | 16 million viewers | ABC/Disney+/Hulu |
9. The Pitt | 13.8 million viewers | HBO Max |
10. Monster: The Ed Gein Story | 13.4 million viewers | Netflix |
11. Fallout | 13.3 million viewers | Prime Video |
12. The Beast in Me | 12.7 million viewers | Netflix |
13. Matlock | 11.5 million viewers | CBS/Paramount+ |
14. The Lincoln Lawyer | 11.4 million viewers | Netflix |
15. Sheriff Country | 10.8 million viewers | CBS/Paramount+ |
16. The Rookie | 10.6 million viewers | ABC/Disney+/Hulu |
17. Ghosts | 10.5 million viewers | CBS/Paramount+ |
18. Will Trent | 10.4 million viewers | ABC/Disney+/Hulu |
19. The Madison | 10.2 million viewers | Paramount+ |
20. NCIS | 10 million viewers | CBS/Paramount+ |
21. Chicago Fire | 9.9 million viewers | NBC/Peacock |
Georgie & Mandy's First Marriage | 9.9 million viewers | CBS/Paramount+ |
The Boys | 9.9 million viewers | Prime Video |
24. Dancing with the Stars | 9.8 million viewers | ABC/Disney+/Hulu |
Survivor 50 | 9.8 million viewers | CBS/Paramount+ |
Remember that the ranking above was newly introduced by Nielsen last year as a way to measure multi-platform data for both streaming and traditional broadcast and cable series. It's a better way to see how your favorite small-screen favorites are faring these days when streaming viewership is typically larger and can hold much more weight than linear airings on their actual networks.
Additionally, the current standing that ranks the average 35-day viewership of television's most popular shows only factors in data from April 2026. As Variety notes, some shows that hadn't wrapped up their seasons until the following month could potentially drop, so there could be some movement to this Top 25 ranking as fresher data arrives in the coming weeks.
It's unclear where this will come to the benefit of Chicago Med and Chicago PD, which could possibly manage to crack the Top 25, or to the detriment of Chicago Fire, which could even fall out of the Top 25 if other shows overtake its numbers. Regardless, you can't say the One Chicago shows aren't among TV's biggest draws. After all, Fire is the only NBC show to make the Top 25.
Chicago Med showrunner hints we've seen the last of one of the show's most disliked characters
The final episodes of Chicago Med season 11 took an unexpectedly darker turn for Dr. John Frost as the season revisited his traumatic experiences growing up as a child actor and his rocky relationship with his parents, who failed to protect him. It all began when Frost’s parents, James and Celeste, showed up in town hoping to reconnect with their understandably estranged son.
Frost would eventually agree to meet with his parents, and he came to learn that his father’s health was in decline due to his MS diagnosis. As the season progressed, Frost would come to learn that his father was not suffering from MS, but rather he had a tumor on his spine which was causing MS-like symptoms. He’d also come to learn that his dad knew about the tumor but didn’t explore treatment out of fear.
By the time Frost found out the truth, his father was no longer eligible for a medical trial which could provide treatment designed to shrink the tumor. Despite their fractured relationship, Frost didn’t want to give up on his dad and agreed to sign on for a Nick of Time reboot series in order to make the money needed to pay for his father’s expensive treatment.
It was clear from the start that Frost did not want to return to acting, but it was a means to an end to make the money needed for his father’s treatment. He was all set to proceed with the project until the reboot’s producer surprised him at lunch with the news that Ainsley, the woman who played his mom on the show and took advantage of Frost as a teen, had been added to the cast.
Upon learning the news, Frost chose to walk away from the reboot which was when he’d come to find out that his father knew about his relationship with Ainsley and never stepped in to protect him. Instead, he turned a blind eye. This led to another fallout between Frost and his father, one that was short-lived as Frost would learn in the penultimate episode of the season that his dad’s treatments were not working and he’d been moved to hospice care.
The season finale saw Frost make peace with his father as he stayed with him through his final hours and remained at his side until his father passed as the finale came to a close.
Jessalyn Gilsig not expected to return for Chicago Med season 12
Needless to say, the back half of the season was particularly trying for Frost in many ways, but it was one that allowed the show to close the book on the past as the show focuses on how Frost will move forward. With the closing of this book, Chicago Med showrunner Allen MacDonald seemed to indicate that we’ve seen the last of a character that quickly became one of the show’s most disliked characters: Ainsley.
While you can truly never say never in the world of television, MacDonald appears to have all but confirmed we’ve seen the last of Ainsley on Chicago Med. In speaking with Parade following the finale, MacDonald noted that while they’ll always make reference to Frost’s past and to Nick of Time and Ainsley, specifically, they’ve closed the book on that—seeming to hint that while Ainsley might come up in conversation, she won’t be popping back up on the show directly.
“There’s a weight lifted off his shoulders. I think the past has always been something he’s run away from, that he thought he didn’t need to deal with it but it was actually weighing him down more because he wasn’t. We’ve spent the last two seasons with him slowly confronting the past and growing from the processing of it, and now I believe next season he’s going to move on,” MacDonald revealed. “There will be other challenges next season for Dr. John Frost, but as far as the past and Nick of Time and Ainsley, those are things we’ll always make reference to, but I feel like we’re closing the book on that, on the past, and now he’s going to move forward.”
As much as we love Jessalyn Gilsig, who was phenomenal in the role of Ainsley, it does make sense for her appearance in season 11, episode 19, “Exit Strategies," to serve as her final episode on the show.
Frost will surely continue to unpack the events of his past in the new season as he works on his relationship with his mom following his father’s death, but we don’t need to see Ainsley back again as it’s time the show began to allow Frost to reclaim his future and move forward. Thankfully, that seems to be the plan, and we’re certainly eager to see what season 12 will bring for Frost as he begins this new chapter in his story!
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