Primetime Ratings: ‘Empire’ Continues Its Reign

Empire’s only competition at this point could come from Daylight Saving Time, which begins on Sunday. The Fox drama rose yet again to another high in both the adults 18-49 demo and total viewers, according to Nielsen overnight numbers.

Empire notched a 5.7 rating in the demo and 14.2 million total viewers, up 6% and 2%, respectively. The demo rating is the highest for a broadcast drama since Lost’s finale in 2010 (5.8), while the total viewer count marks the show’s eighth straight week of gains.

American Idol however, tumbled 22% to a 2.1 rating, though Fox still easily led Wednesday night with an overall 3.9 rating/12 share.

CBS debuted its newest iteration of its CSI franchise with Cyber, which notched a 1.8 rating in the demo but over 10 million total viewers. The Patricia Arquette-starrer was down slightly from Stalker’s premiere in that timeslot in the fall in the demo, but topped it among total viewers. Survivor dipped a tenth from last week’s premiere to 2.3 rating, while Criminal Minds was even with its last show at a 1.9. CBS took third with a 2.0/6.

ABC was in second with a 2.2/7. The Goldbergs and Modern Family were each steady with last week with a 2.5 and 3.4, respectively. The Middle rose two tenths to a 2.2 and Black-ish inched up a tenth to a 2.3. At 10 p.m., Nashville rose a tenth to a 1.4.

A Voice recap special drew a 2.1 rating for NBC, which finished in fourth with a 1.8/5 on a repeat-laden night.

The CW rounded out the evening with a 0.4/1. The 100 was even with last week’s 0.5 rating.