‘Chicago P.D.’ Picked Up By Fox Stations For Fall ’18 Broadcast Syndication Launch

Fox Television Stations has closed a deal with NBCUniversal Domestic Television Distribution for national syndication rights to Dick Wolf’s NBC police drama series Chicago P.D.

Beginning in September, the show will air Monday-Friday on local broadcast stations including Fox owned-and-operated stations in New York, Los Angeles, Chicago, Dallas, Washington D.C., Houston, Phoenix, San Francisco, Minneapolis, Orlando and Charlotte, among others.

The broadcast syndication deal for Chicago P.D. comes after NBCU’s USA Network and sibling Oxygen Media in September acquired off-network rights to the series from Universal Television and Wolf Entertainment. The off-network deal was the first cable sale for a broadcast drama series in awhile as that market has softened significantly during the past couple of years, with cable nets shifting to originals. Chicago P.D. also is the first Chicago series to sell in syndication; the four-year old cop drama became available for a daily off-network run this past September.

“We are thrilled to bring another Dick Wolf hit to the broadcast marketplace,” said Sean O’Boyle, EVP syndication sales at NBCUniversal Domestic Television Distribution. “Chicago P.D is a premier procedural and is a unique opportunity for local broadcasters, as it is the only off-net scripted hour available to play as a Monday-Friday strip. This series will strengthen our partner stations’ programming schedules the same way the Law & Order franchise has done over the years.”

Chicago P.D. is more procedural, in the vein of Wolf’s formidable Law & Order franchise, and less soapy than Chicago flagship Chicago Fire, thus more desirable for syndication. It is about the men and women of the Chicago Police Department’s elite Intelligence Unit who combat the city’s most heinous offenses – organized crime, drug trafficking, high-profile murders and beyond. The cast includes Jon Seda, Sophia Bush, Jesse Lee Soffer, Patrick John Flueger, Marina Squerciati, Elias Koteas, LaRoyce Hawkins, Amy Morton and Tracy Spiridakos.

Chicago P.D. was created by Wolf and Matt Olmstead and developed by Derek Haas and Michael Brandt. In addition to Wolf and Haas, executive producers include Rick Eid — who succeeded Olmstead as showrunner — Peter Jankowski, Arthur Forney and Terry Miller.

Chicago P.D.  is produced by Wolf Entertainment in association with Universal Television and is distributed in the U.S. and Canada by NBCUniversal Domestic Television Distribution.