Dick Wolf Extends Overall Deal With Universal Television

Nellie Andreeva
Updated ·3 min read
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On the heels of NBC extending Dick Wolf’s six scripted series on the network for another season, sibling Universal Television has extended Wolf’s overall deal at the studio for two additional years.

The uber producer in 2020 signed a massive new five-year, nine-figure deal spanning broadcast and streaming for his Wolf Entertainment to remain at Universal Television, a division of Universal Studio Group, until 2025. The pact has now been extended until 2027. We hear the new agreement is under the same financial terms and features new series commitments for scripted and unscripted shows.

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With yesterday’s NBC mass renewal for Chicago Fire, Chicago PD, Chicago Med, Law & Order, Law & Order: SVU, and Law & Order: Organized Crime and the existing two-season CBS renewal for FBI, FBI: Most Wanted and FBI: International, all nine of Wolf’s current broadcast scripted series are locked in for next season. Additionally, he has a 10th on-air scripted series, the upcoming half-hour police drama On Call (working title), on Amazon Freevee.

That number could climb over the next four years. Wolf has long had a goal of presiding over 12 hours of broadcast scripted programming — four procedural drama franchises consisting of three series each. His series now dominate ratings on three consecutive nights with FBI-Tuesdays, Chicago-Wednesdays and Law & Order-Thursdays.

Wolf, who has been at Universal TV for 39 years, is currently developing Dark Woods, the murder mystery Wolf Entertainment scripted podcast, as a scripted series for Universal Television.

“Universal Television has been my home for almost 40 years,” he said. “It has been, and continues to be, one of the most successful partnerships in television, and I am thrilled that we are keeping the trains running another four years.”

All three Chicago series rank among the top 10 in both 18-49 and total viewers (L+7) and make NBC the #1 network with entertainment on Wednesdays among A18-49 and P2+ (L+7).

Law & Order: SVU and Law & Order: Organized Crime rank among broadcast’s top 10 dramas in the 18-49 demo for the 2022-23 season (L+7). SVU is NBC’s #1 show for the 2022-23 season-to-date across all platforms (L+35).

And last week, the first-ever three-series FBI crossover event, reached the largest Tuesday audience of the season for broadcast and streaming and was #1 for the night across the board with up to 6.4 million viewers.

“Whether in the comfort of their home or on the treadmill at the gym, it’s a safe bet that almost every adult in the United States has viewed at least one episode of a Dick Wolf show at some point in their life. Dick is a cultural institution who has produced over 2000 hours of television, and we are elated that he will continue to make Universal Television his home,” said Pearlena Igbokwe, Chairman, Universal Studio Group. “With ten scripted shows presenting across multiple platforms and a new pipeline of unscripted series, Dick’s vision, creativity and love for television continue to be boundless, and we are proud to be his partners.”

On unscripted fare, Wolf Entertainment partners with Universal Television’s sister studio, Universal Television Alternative Studio. That includes CNBC and Oxygen’s new series Blood & Money as well as the upcoming LA Fire & Rescue premiering June 21 on NBC.

Additionally, NBCUniversal’s streamer Peacock three years ago made a mega nine-figure deal for the majority of Wolf’s deep catalog.

The deal negotiated by attorney Cliff Gilbert-Lurie of Ziffren Brittenham, WME’s Rick Rosen and Marc Korman, and Masami Yamamoto, President, Business Affairs & Operations, Universal Studio Group.

Dominic Patten contributed to this report.

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