Is Chicago PD in danger of being canceled by NBC?

It has not been the easiest season for Chicago PD fans. Besides having to watch Jay Halstead (Jesse Lee Soffer) walk away, the fans have had to follow the IU through some truly harrowing cases involving murder and human trafficking.

The drama has been riveting as ever, with special emphasis being placed on cornerstone people like Hank Voight (Jason Beghe) and Hailey Upton (Tracy Spiridakos). As we cross the halfway mark for season 10, however, the speculation about the show’s future can’t help but become a bigger talking point.

Is Chicago PD coming back?

The ratings for PD, like its One Chicago peers, have been holding steady for a decade. There was a slight dip during the fall, with PD pulling in less viewers than Chicago Fire and Chicago Med, but it still placed at a respectable 10 out of 25 shows according to Deadline.

Part of the dip may have to do with the fact that fans were disheartened by Halstead leaving, but the show has slowly clawed its way back from that major departure with complex storylines and some terrific acting on the part of Beghe and Spiridakos.

Police procedurals are a cottage industry for network television, and the fact that PD has crossed the ten-year mark ensures that it has plenty of brand recognition among fans (and that’s separate from the brand recognition of the greater One Chicago franchise). Very few shows manage to hit a decade, but the fact that PD has says good things about its future.

Canceling PD would also take a sizable chunk out of the One Chicago franchise, which has been a massive boon to NBC in terms of reruns and streaming (all three shows are available on Peacock). It would also cause major structural issues with crossover events, as whittling things down to 2 instead of 3 would greatly reduce the excitement.

Simply put, PD is looking great going in its renewal season. Showrunner Gwen Sigan has teased the possibility of there being new characters introduced in the second half of season 10, so there is no reason to believe it won’t stick around.