“Empire” helped Fox remain the king of the Nielsen ratings castle Wednesday night, bringing in steady numbers in the key 18-49 demographic — just one day after being renewed for a fifth season.
Though a new episode of the drama at 8 p.m. — which featured the first appearance of Alfre Woodard as Cookie Lyon’s (Taraji P. Henson) mother — and a fresh installment of “Star” after that were enough to keep the network on top in that category, CBS and NBC still beat the network in total viewers.
And in the battle for first and second, CBS ended up topping the Peacock in eyeballs for the evening, despite the fact a solid “Chicago P.D.” took down “Code Black” in the 10 p.m. time slot.
Fox was first in ratings with a 1.4 rating/6 share in the advertiser-coveted 18-49 demographic and third in total viewers with an average of 4.6 million, according to preliminary numbers. At 8 p.m., “Empire” scored a 1.7/8 and 5.3 million viewers. “Star” at 9 earned a 1.2/5 and 3.9 million viewers.
NBC was second in ratings with a 1.1/5 and second in viewers with 5.9 million. “The Blacklist” at 8 received a 0.8/4 and 5.5 million viewers. At 9, “Law & Order: SVU” posted a 1.2/5 and 6.3 million viewers. At 10, “Chicago P.D.” put up a 1.2/5 and 6.1 million viewers.
CBS was third in ratings with a 1.0/4 and first in viewers with 6.3 million. At 8, “Survivor” had a 1.5/7 and 7.8 million viewers. “SEAL Team” at 9 got a 0.9/4 and 5.9 million viewers. At 10, “Code Black” managed a 0.7/3 and 5.1 million viewers.
ABC was fourth in ratings with a 0.9/4 and in viewers with 3.9 million. At 8, “The Goldbergs” hit a 1.2/6 and 4.9 million viewers. At 8:30, “Alex, Inc.” saw a 0.8/3 and 3.2 million viewers. “Modern Family” at 9 landed a 1.3/5 and 4.7 million viewers. “American Housewife” at 9:30 took a 0.9/4 and 3.7 million viewers. At 10, “Designated Survivor” managed a 0.6/3 and 3.6 million viewers.
Univision, The CW and Telemundo tied for fifth in ratings with a 0.4/2.
Telemundo was fifth in viewers with 1.3 million.
Univision was sixth in viewers with 1.04 million.
The CW was seventh in viewers with 1.02 million. At 8, “Riverdale” received a 0.4/2 and 1.1 million viewers. At 9, “The Originals” got a 0.4/2 and 929,000 viewers.