Procedurals Powerhouses: NBC’s ‘Law & Order’ and ‘Chicago’ Franchises Are Drawing Distinct Audiences | Chart

The “One Chicago” franchise — a set of interconnected primetime procedurals that comprises “Chicago Fire,” “Chicago P.D.,” and “Chicago Med” — stormed back onto television this month, with new episodes of all three series taking up NBC’s primetime Wednesday night schedule.

The following night, new seasons of “Law & Order” and spinoffs “Special Victims Unit” and “Organized Crime” had premieres of their own. Dick Wolf, the producer of both TV franchises, now controls NBC’s most coveted airtime slots on not one, but two nights of the week.

That’s the nature of broadcast TV: When something works, you tend to see a lot more of it.