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!
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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