Updated: Upward adjustments in the finals rendered FOX’s Wednesday night performance even more impressive.
New 9PM drama “Empire” ended up with a 4.4 adults 18-49 rating and 11.07 million viewers. The episode, which was the series’ third, bested the previous installment by a healthy 10% in the adults 18-49 demo.
Its lead-in “Idol” enjoyed a season high of its own. The hourlong episode drew a 3.4 with 11.76 million viewers.
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Last week, the second episode of FOX’s “Empire” achieved the rare feat of outperforming the series premiere. On the heels of that showing, FOX renewed “Empire” for a second season.
This week, it managed to rise again. This Wednesday’s installment of “Empire” bested the prior week’s adults 18-49 and total viewership marks.
Television’s most buzzworthy show delivered a 4.3 adults 18-49 rating with 10.95 million viewers. Both represent impressive week three increases for the series, which delivered a 4.0 rating and 10.32 million viewers last week.
The success of “Empire” is clearly attributable to the show itself. The promotion clearly commanded attention, and the on-screen action is clearly keeping people interested. This week’s episode did, however, theoretically benefit from a pair of appealing circumstances.
One came in the form of “American Idol.” While “Empire” has outdrawn “Idol” in each of its first three airings, the fact that this week’s “Idol” scored a season high 3.3 adults 18-49 rating with 11.53 million viewers certainly did not hurt matters. “Empire” received a stronger lead-in than it did last week.
The other involved the lighter competitive landscape. For the first time since its premiere, “Empire” (and “Idol”) did not go head-to-head with original installments of ABC’s comedies.
While “Empire” easily topped the original editions of “Modern Family” and “black-ish” against which it aired in its first two weeks, it is not implausible that their presence kept some potentially interested viewers from watching “Empire.” And insofar as this week’s re-run broadcasts attracted considerably less interest (“Modern Family” drew a 3.0 last week and a 1.5 this week; “black-ish” drew a 1.9 last week and a 1.1 this week), it is possible that some of the available viewers decided to give “Empire” a try.
But whether or not those circumstances added a slight boost to this specific week’s telecast, it is clear FOX has a monster on its hands with “Empire.” The show is clicking, and the viewers are watching.