‘Law & Order’ moves to 10 p.m. as NBC restructures Thursday lineup for fall 2026
by The Washington Times AI News Desk · The Washington TimesNBC has confirmed that “Law & Order,” one of the longest-running dramas in television history, will shift to a 10 p.m. Thursday time slot for its 26th season this fall — a two-hour move from its traditional 8 p.m. position that some television writers have suggested could make it harder for the series to maintain its audience.
The network unveiled its full fall 2026 premiere schedule this week, with “Law & Order: SVU” anchoring the 9 p.m. hour and the flagship series closing the night at 10 p.m. The 8 p.m. slot vacated by “Law & Order” will go to “The Traitors: New Blood,” a civilian spinoff of Peacock’s hit reality competition hosted by Alan Cumming.
Both “Law & Order” and “SVU” will premiere Thursday, Oct. 8, with the One Chicago dramas — “Chicago Med,” “Chicago Fire” and “Chicago P.D.” — returning the night before on Wednesday, Oct. 7.
The change moves the series to a later time slot for the first time since its 2022 revival. The renewal itself came later than usual — “SVU” was renewed in mid-April and NBC’s three Chicago dramas earned pickups in late March, while “Law & Order” did not receive official confirmation until just before the network’s upfront presentation in May. Lisa Katz, president of scripted content for NBC and Peacock, described the timing as a scheduling challenge rather than a reflection of the show’s standing, saying the network was working to fit all the pieces together once “The Traitors: New Blood” was added to Thursdays. “We love the show. We love the block,” she told reporters.
The 10 p.m. hour has historically attracted smaller broadcast audiences than earlier prime time slots, though some established procedurals have found success there. Shows including “Chicago P.D.,” ABC’s “The Rookie” and the now-cancelled “Blue Bloods” on CBS — which has been replaced in its Friday slot by the spinoff “Boston Blue” — have managed to build or sustain audiences at that hour. Screen Rant, among other entertainment outlets, has argued that “Law & Order” faces a steeper challenge given that those shows arrived at 10 p.m. with stronger momentum.
The show’s linear viewership has declined since its 2022 return. Season 24 of “Law & Order” averaged 3.73 million viewers in live-plus-same-day ratings, and the season 25 premiere drew 6 million cross-platform viewers in its first seven days, according to NBCUniversal data. A season-long average for season 25 was not independently confirmed from a primary source by press time. On the streaming side, “Law & Order” posted a 56% year-over-year increase in Peacock viewership at the start of its 25th season, the best streaming performance the show had recorded since its revival.
The season 25 cast — Maura Tierney as Lt. Jessica Brady, Tony Goldwyn as District Attorney Nicholas Baxter, Hugh Dancy as A.D.A. Nolan Price, Odelya Halevi as A.D.A. Samantha Maroun, Reid Scott as Detective Vincent Riley and David Ajala as Detective Theo Walker — has not yet been officially confirmed for season 26 as of late June.
The full fall schedule was reported by Deadline. Screen Rant first flagged the time slot change as a potential warning sign for the veteran series.
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