Chicago Fire, Med, and PD post huge ratings as viewers stay home

One of the trends that we’ve (understandably) seen all week long now is viewers turning to live television as a way to pass the time during their self-quarantines. It’s a way to stay connected to the outside world, and also a way to ensure that they have a little bit of escapism. At this point, it’s fair to assume that ratings for most series are going to improve for however long this health crisis lasts — it could be through the remainder of what are now shortened seasons for many of these shows.

One of the questions we did still wonder, though, is if series based around first responders or rescues would be negatively impacted. After all, given what’s happening it would be fair to wonder if viewers would prefer to not watch subject matter that is “close to home.” Yet, that hasn’t been proven to be the case for Chicago Med, Chicago Fire, and Chicago PD as the three shows ended up posting some of their best numbers in years on Wednesday.

Let’s start things off with Med, which drew 9.1 million viewers — this marks its largest total in over a year. It may have received a slight bump due to it being the 100th episode, but typically the episodes that receive the biggest ratings boost with this show are ones that feature a major crossover. From here, Chicago Fire drew 8.9 million viewers — its best total in years, crossovers excluded. Chicago PD closed things off with close to 8 million viewers, once again posting the best numbers for a non-crossover in a rather long time.

The easy conclusion to draw from all of this is rather simple, and that is that viewers are still eating up every little thing related to these shows at the moment. They’re at home, staying safe, and looking for something to watch. Maybe there is something hopeful that comes from checking these out, as they feel like these programs are all a reflection of what they are hoping for in the real world — stories where people are safe in the end.

All three One Chicago series are already renewed for three more seasons, so there is no cause for concern there.

What do you think of the Chicago Med, Chicago Fire, and Chicago PD ratings boost?

Be sure to share now in the comments. Meanwhile, be sure to stick around for some other news. (Photo: NBC.)