Ion Media Acquires Rights To “Chicago P.D.”

Ion Media today announced a long-term content deal with NBCUniversal Television Distribution to bring the top-rated drama Chicago P.D. to its flagship network, Ion Television. From Dick Wolf’s highly successful Chicago franchise, the series is a top-10 drama on broadcast television in adults 25-54 and adults 18-49 and is the No. 1 series in its time period (Wednesday, 10 p.m.) in all key demos this season.

The agreement gives Ion seasons 1-5 (106 episodes) of Chicago P.D., which will make its network debut in early 2019, plus the option for future seasons.

Ion Television will also add season 17 of Law & Order: Special Victims Unit to its programming lineup this fall. The series continues to be a top performer with an average of 1.24 million viewers.

The agreement extends Ion’s rights to Law & Order, Law & Order: Special Victims Unit and Law & Order: Criminal Intent. Additionally, Ion has acquired the rights to broadcast the Law & Order and Law & Order: Criminal Intent series on its D2 properties.

“Ion is pleased to add another one of television’s most-watched shows to its stable,” said Brandon Burgess, chairman-CEO of Ion Media. “The addition of this compelling new series and renewal of an iconic TV franchise further demonstrates our commitment to building on our multi-network and multi-platform expansion strategy over the next five years, and is another success story in our longstanding relationship with NBCUniversal.”

“NBCUniversal is pleased to work with Wolf Entertainment to expand and extend our partnership with Ion Media for Chicago P.D., one of television’s top-rated drama series,” added Frances Manfredi, president, television and new media distribution, U.S. and Canada, NBCUniversal.