Fox’s final competition performances for the ending “American Idol” proved to be a pretty good pair with its hit hip-hop soap opera, “Empire.” Unfortunately, there will never be an opportunity to test that combination again, as the singing competition takes its final bow Thursday evening.
No one else was close to Fox’s averages last night, but someone had to be second. ABC was runner-up in the key 18-49 demographic, though CBS finished second in total viewers.
Fox was first in ratings with a 3.2 rating/11 share in the advertiser-coveted 18-49 demographic and in total viewers with an average of 10.5 million, according to preliminary numbers. At 8 p.m., “Idol” earned a 2.2/8 and 9.6 million viewers. An hour later, “Empire” scored a 4.2/14 and 11.3 million viewers.
ABC was second in ratings with a 1.5/5 and third in viewers with 5.7 million. At 8 p.m. ET, “The Middle” had a 1.7/6 and 6.9 million viewers. At 830, “The Goldbergs” got a 1.8/6 and 6.1 million viewers. “Modern Family” at 9 posted a 2.2/7 and 7.4 million viewers. At 9:30, “Black-ish” received a 1.6/5 and 5.5 million viewers. At 10, “Nashville” reached a 1.0/3 and 4.2 million viewers.
CBS was third in ratings with a 1.4/5 and in viewers with 7.8 million. “Survivor: Kaoh Rong” at 8 had a 1.9/7 and 9 million viewers. At 9, “Criminal Minds” got a 1.2/4 and 7.3 million viewers. “Criminal Minds: Beyond Borders” at 10 received a 1.2/4 and 6.9 million viewers.
NBC was fourth in ratings with a 0.8/3 and in viewers with 3.9 million. “Heartbeat” at 8 posted a 0.7/3 and 4 million viewers. Reruns followed.
The CW and Univision tied for fifth in ratings, both with a 0.7/3. CW was fifth in total viewers with 2 million, Univision was sixth with 1.9 million.
For CW, “Arrow” at 8 had a 0.8/3 and 2.2 million viewers. At 9, “Supernatural” got a 0.7/2 and 1.8 million viewers.
Telemundo was seventh in ratings with a 0.6/2 and in viewers with 1.3 million.