“Empire” clearly made everything better, including its former Wednesday night lead-in, “American Idol.”
The Fox singing competition sunk to a Wednesday series low last night in the advertiser-sought 18-49 demographic (with a 1.7), one week after Lee Daniels‘ hit hip-hop soap opera wrapped up its first season with a monster two-hour finale.
Versus the same night last year, “Idol” is down 23 percent. The first hour, 8 p.m. – 9 p.m., is down a few percentage points more from its last Wednesday original two weeks ago. “Idol’s” second hour, which previously aired on Thursday, is down one-tenth of a point at the moment when comparing fast national numbers — though crossing nights is a bit of a murky comparison at best.
Still, Fox managed to tie ABC for second in the demo last night and finish runner-up in total viewers behind CBS.
CBS was first in ratings with a 1.9 rating/6 share in the advertiser-coveted 18-49 demographic and in total viewers with an average of 9.2 million, according to preliminary numbers. “Survivor” at 8 p.m. received a 2.2/8 and 9.5 million viewers. “Criminal Minds” at 9 had a 2.0/6 and 9.9 million viewers. “CSI: Cyber” got a 1.4/5 and 8.1 million viewers.
Fox and ABC tied for second in ratings, both with a 1.7/6. Fox was second in total viewers with 8.3 million; “American Idol” was the only show on the network’s schedule. ABC was fourth with 6.18 million.
For the most part, ABC’s shows were down quite a bit from their comparable originals. “The Middle” at 8 had a 1.8/7 and 7.2 million viewers. “The Goldbergs” at 8:30 got a 2.0/7 and 6.7 million viewers. “Modern Family” at 9 posted a 2.8/9 and 8.5 million viewers. “Black-ish” at 9:30 received a 2.1/7 and 6.5 million viewers. A “Nashville” special “On the Record” garnered a 0.8/3 and 4.1 million viewers.
NBC was fourth in ratings with a 1.3/4 and third in viewers with 6.22 million. “The Mysteries of Laura” at 8 had a 1.0/4 and 6.4 million viewers. “Law & Order: SVU” at 9 got a 1.3/4 and 6 million viewers. Those first two shows dropped significantly from their most recent originals. “Chicago PD” at 10 received a 1.5/5 and 6.3 million viewers.
Univision was fifth in ratings with a 1.0/3 and in viewers with 2.8 million.
The CW was sixth in ratings with a 0.9/3 and in viewers with 2.3 million. “Arrow” at 8 had a 1.0/4 and 2.8 million viewers. “Supernatural” at 9 got a 1.7 million viewers.
Telemundo was seventh in ratings with a 0.7/2 and in viewers with 1.8 million.