Primetime Ratings: Fox Wins With Hot ‘Empire’

Fox took top honors in Wednesday ratings, riding hot hit Empire to a 1.4 average across prime in viewers 18-49, according to Nielsen’s overnights, and a 6 share. In second was NBC at 1.1/5.

Empire, which Fox has renewed for season five, ticked up 6% to 1.7 while Star did a flat 1.2.

On NBC, The Blacklist rated a flat 0.8. Law & Order: SVU and Chicago P.D. both rated a 1.2, SVU down 14% and Chicago P.D. flat.

CBS scored a 1.0/4. Survivor went down 6% to 1.5, SEAL Team grew 13% to 0.9 and Code Black tallied a 0.7, level with its premiere last week.

ABC rated a 0.9/4. The Goldbergs was a flat 1.2 and Alex, Inc. a 0.8, better than last week’s 0.7 and 0.6. Modern Family dropped 7% to 1.3 and American Housewife fell 18% to 0.9. Drama Designated Survivor was up a tenth of a point at 0.6.

The CW was good for a 0.4/2, with Riverdale and The Originals both at flat 0.4s.

Univision and Telemundo both rated a 0.4/2 too.

Michael Malone

Michael Malone, senior content producer at B+C/Multichannel News, covers network programming, including entertainment, news and sports on broadcast, cable and streaming; and local broadcast television. He hosts the podcasts Busted Pilot, about what’s new in television, and Series Business, a chat with the creator of a new program, and writes the column “The Watchman.” He joined B+C in 2005. His journalism has also appeared in The New York Times, The Philadelphia Inquirer, Playboy and New York magazine.