One look at social media and its painfully obvious that FOX’s ‘Empire‘ is one of the biggest shows to debut in the past few years. Their debut episode last week clocked in 9.9 million viewers only beat out by ‘American Idol’ which comes on right before the series, but now Taraji P. Henson and co. are about to give AI and every other show a run for their money. Via ‘Entertainment Weekly’:
Empire delivered a ratings surprise Wednesday night by rising slightly in the Nielsens for its second episode.
The freshman hip-hop drama’s numbers have climbed despite several factors:
– Empire‘s lead-in, American Idol, declined.
Competition on CBS increased, with higher-rated Criminal Minds in the 9 p.m. slot instead of The People’s Choice Awards.
– Empire‘s first week was surprisingly strong and new shows almost always drop for their second episodes — especially if the premiere was higher than expected.
– The Empire slot contained a minute of overrun from lower-rated American Idol, which if anything should have potentially weakened these preliminary numbers.
Empire had 10.3 million viewers and a 4.0 rating among adults 18-49, up 5 percent. While Idol (10.5 million and a 2.9 rating), went down 9 percent. Empire easily topped the night, beating every other broadcast show. Last week’s Empire debut tied ABC’s How to Get Away with Murder as the highest-rated new fall show in the demo.
In case you missed the second episode check it out below!

