While the second season of FOX’s “Empire” will not be as abbreviated as the inaugural edition, it will not be as long as a traditional network television season.
FOX confirms that the upcoming second season will consist of eighteen episodes. Nine will air in the fall, and the last–dubbed the winter finale–will feature a cliffhanger.
The remaining nine episodes will then air during a spring.
During Monday’s 2015-16 conference call, FOX also confirmed that Ne-Yo is joining the show as a songwriter. Several high-profile guests are expected to appear on screen throughout the season, but he is not slated to be one of them.