Broadcast drama king “Empire” is back, and the hip-hop soap opera returned up from its most-recent original episode.
Fox finished first in the key 18-49 demographic, though CBS won Wednesday in total viewers by a mere 7,000 overall audience members.
“Empire” alone did a big 4.7 rating/15 share and 12.238 million total viewers. Its fall finale put up a 4.5/14 and 11.812 million viewers. That said, the Lee Daniels/Danny Strong drama’s fall season premiere scored a massive 6.7/21 and 16.184 million total viewers.
Fox was first in ratings with a 3.0 rating/10 share in the advertiser-coveted 18-49 demographic and second in total viewers with an average of 8.686 million, according to preliminary numbers. “Rosewood” at 8 p.m. posted a 1.4/5 and 5.1 million viewers — a big improvement, thanks to the “Empire” return, which followed at 9.
CBS was second in ratings with a 1.8/6 and first in viewers with 8.693 million. “Survivor” at 8 earned a 2.1/7 and 9.4 million viewers. At 9, “Criminal Minds” posted a 1.8/6 and 9.3 million viewers. At 10, “Criminal Minds: Beyond Borders” received a 1.4/5 and 7.3 million viewers.
NBC was third in ratings with a 1.3/4 and in viewers with 5.8 million. “Heartbeat” at 8 had a 0.9/3 and 4.8 million viewers. At 9, “Law & Order: SVU” got a 1.4/5 and 6 million viewers. “Chicago P.D.” at 10 put up a 1.5/5 and 6.7 million viewers.
ABC was fourth in ratings with a 1.1/4 and in viewers with 4.4 million. Following reruns, “Nashville” received a 0.9/3 and 4 million viewers.
The CW and Univision tied for fifth in ratings, both with a 0.7. CW had a 3 share, Univision got a 2. The CW was fifth in total viewers with 2 million, Univision was sixth with 1.8 million.
For CW, “Arrow” at 8 had a 0.9/3 and 2.4 million viewers. At 9, “Supernatural” got a 0.6/2 and 1.6 million viewers.
Telemundo was seventh in ratings with a 0.6/2 and in viewers with 1.5 million.