TV Ratings: NBC’s ‘Chicago’ Trio Leads Wednesday Primetime

Mónica Marie Zorrilla
·4 min read
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As usual, NBC’s “Chicago” crossover trio, which consists of the three dramas “Chicago Med,” “Chicago Fire,” and “Chicago PD,” took up the top three slots in Wednesday, Feb. 17’s overnight primetime numbers.

The fast affiliate ratings from Nielsen+Live Same Day indicate that a new episode of the third installment of executive producer Dick Wolf’s franchise, “Chicago Med,” drew a solid 0.9 in the key adults 18-49 demo and approximately 7.38 million viewers at 8 p.m. Brother series “Chicago Fire” was runnerup to the medical drama in the key demo, which ran at 9 p.m. and drew a 0.9 rating and 7.09 million viewers. Closing out the NBC trio at 10 p.m. was a new episode of “Chicago P.D.,” which earned a 0.8 in the 18-49 demographic and 5.72 million viewers.

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However, “Riverdale,” the CW’s gritty teen “Archie” comics-inspired drama developed by Roberto Aguirre-Sacasa, got a notable and significant boost in last night’s ratings. The network’s airing of the show’s latest episode “Chapter Eighty-One: The Homecoming” at 8 p.m. drew a 0.2 in the key demo (a 42.86% bump compared to the previous episode) and 0.62 million viewers (a substantial increase of 29.62% compared to the prior week).

The CW also ran a new episode of “Nancy Drew” the following hour, which obtained a 0.1 rating in the key demo and 0.42 million viewers.

Elsewhere on television, ABC dropped reruns of “The Goldbergs” at 8 p.m., “American Housewife” at 8:30 p.m., “The Conners” at 9 p.m” and “Call Your Mother” at 9:30 p.m. At 10 p.m., the network ran a new episode of “For Life,” which drew a 0.3 in the key demo and 1.45 million viewers.

The 8 p.m. airing of Fox’s latest costumed talent competition “The Masked Dancer” received a 0.5 rating in the 18-49 demo and 2.64 million viewers. The network then doubled down and aired another episode of the series at 9 p.m. (0.6, 3.08).

CBS ran a new episode of “Tough as Nails” in the 8-9 p.m. timeslot that drew a 0.5 in the 18-49 demo and attracted 3.34 million viewers. From 9-10 p.m., the network aired a new episode of “SEAL Team” (0.5, 3.67) and in the next hour-long telecast window, a new episode of “S.W.A.T.” (0.4, 2.93).

Over on the Spanish language giants, Univision dropped new episodes of Mexican telenovelas “Vencer el desamor” at 8 p.m. (0.5, 1.55), and “¿Te acuerdas de mí?” at 9 p.m. (0.3, 1.21). At 10 p.m., Univision ran a new episode of Brazilian telenovela “A Dona do Pedaço (Dulce Ambición),” which drew a 0.3 in the key demo and about 1.14 million viewers. Throughout the evening, Telemundo ran a new episode of the athletic skill and endurance competition series “Exatlón Estados Unidos” (0.3, 1.07) at 8 p.m., as well as the new Silvia Navarro-fronted telenovela “La Suerte de Loli,” at 9 p.m. (0.3, 1.02). Telemundo Global Studios-produced telenovela “Buscando a Frida” also aired a new episode last night at 10 p.m., scoring a 0.3 in the key demo and 871,000 viewers.

Overall on Wednesday night, NBC was number one in the key, adults 18-49 demographic, obtaining a 0.9 rating and 6.73 million viewers. Runnerup was Fox in the key demo (0.5), but not in viewers (2.85 million)— that placing belonged to CBS for overnight rankings, which drew an average of 0.4 in the key demo and nearly 3.32 million viewers. ABC, Univision and CBS tied for third in the key, adults ages 18-49 demographic. ABC garnered almost 2 million viewers while Univision ended the night with 1.3 million. Up next was Telemundo, which drew a rating of 0.3 in the key demo and 991,000 viewers. The CW was ranked at the bottom with a 0.1 rating and 517,000 viewers.

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