Wednesday was a Happy Halloween for NBC, which beat Fox in ratings for only the second time ever on an original “Empire” evening.
Dick Wolf’s “Chicago Shows” drove this victory for NBC. The only other time NBC was able to triumph over Fox among adults 18-49 on an “Empire” Wednesday was with “Hairspray Live!” That was way back on Dec. 7, 2016.
As a matter of fact, the last time Fox didn’t win a Wednesday in the key demo while airing an original episode was Nov. 29. 2017, when CBS ran a two-hour “Survivor” and a Bruno Mars special.
NBC was first in ratings with a 1.1 rating/5 share in the advertiser-coveted 18-49 demographic and in total viewers with an average of 7.5 million, according to preliminary numbers. “Chicago Med” at 8 p.m. had a 1.1/5 and 7.7 million viewers. At 9, “Chicago Fire” posted a 1.2/5 and 7.9 million. “Chicago PD” at 10 landed a 1.1/5 and 7 million viewers.
Fox was second in ratings with a 1.0/5, but fourth in viewers with 3.8 million. “Empire” at 8 put up a 1.2/6 and 4.2 million viewers. At 9, “Star” received a 0.9/4 and 3.4 million viewers.
CBS and ABC tied for third in ratings, each with a 0.9/4. CBS was second in total viewers with 5.6 million, ABC was third with 4 million.
For CBS, “Survivor” at 8 had a 1.3/7 and 7.1 million viewers. “SEAL Team” at 9 got a 0.8/4 and 5.4 million viewers. “Criminal Minds” at 10 received a 0.7/3 and 4.4 million viewers.
For ABC, “The Goldbergs” at 8 had a 1.0/5 and 4.8 million viewers. At 8:30, “American Housewife” got a 0.9/4 and 4.2 million viewers. “Modern Family” at 9 received a 1.2/5 and 5 million viewers. At 9:30, “Single Parents” closed the comedy block with a 0.9/4 and 3.7 million viewers. Drama “A Million Little Things” at 10 finished off actual primetime to a 0.8/4 and 3.3 million viewers.
Univision and Telemundo tied for fifth in ratings, both with a 0.4/2. Univision was fifth in total viewers with 1.3 million, Telemundo was sixth with 1.2 million.
The CW was seventh in ratings with a 0.2/1 and in viewers with 661,000, airing all reruns.