Image: Chicago Fire, NBC
With the announcement that the next season of “Law & Order: Organized Crime” will premiere on Peacock and a new Dick Wolf series on Prime Video in January (“On Call”), it is clear that streamers want their share of the Dick Wolf’s expansive, proven and lucrative universe of content. Parrot Analytics’ Streaming Economics model shows that Dick Wolf’s catalog has generated more than $1 billion in cumulative subscriber revenue for streamers in the U.S. and Canada since 2020. That’s the definition of bankable IP in a marketplace where even the biggest platforms are scrutinizing every programming dollar.
Wolf’s flagship may be the 34-year-old “Law & Order” franchise, but the “Chicago” series delivers the largest streaming payday today. Across multiple platforms, titles such as “Chicago Fire,” “Chicago P.D.” and “Chicago Med” contributed $493 million in subscriber revenue between the first quarter of 2020 and the fourth quarter of 2024, which is nearly half of the total haul for Dick Wolf series in North America.
The sheer volume of content in the “Chicago” franchise is one factor helping it deliver for streamers. The more than 700 episodes across the franchise make for a bingeable library that keeps audiences sticking around and lowers churn. The procedural format itself means that viewers can drop in at any episode, which is a huge plus for casual audiences.
Wolf has proven to be a master of crossover storytelling. Shared-universe events spark short-term demand spikes that convert into long-term retention and ensure that the whole of a franchise is greater than the sum of its parts.
Even though the “Chicago” franchise has become the biggest moneymaker for streaming overall, the long-running “Law & Order” franchise remains a workhorse that has brought in over $350 million in streaming revenue for platforms in the U.S. and Canada. This franchise has actually beaten out the “Chicago” franchise in terms of the revenue it has earned for both Peacock and Hulu. Peacock’s decision to move the next season of “Law & Order: Organized Crime” from linear to streaming on Peacock should only increase the value the overall franchise delivers for the platform.
Globally, Amazon Prime Video has benefitted the most from Dick Wolf shows. Collectively, these titles have brought in over $600 million for Prime Video around the world since 2020. Domestically, Peacock only just surpassed Hulu in the fourth quarter of 2024 in terms of how much revenue Wolf franchises have delivered for the platform (over $350 million). The “Chicago” franchise was previously available on Hulu but since leaving the platform, the revenue brought in by Dick Wolf shows has slowed, mainly driven by “Law & Order.” Meanwhile, a growing Peacock subscriber base has meant that platform is even better able to monetize Dick Wolf’s multiple franchises.
