Primetime Ratings: ‘Empire’ Down But Fox Wins

Fox won Wednesday night with a 2.2 rating in adults 18-49, per the Nielsen overnights, and an 8 share. NBC posted a 1.7/6, ABC was just off the pace at 1.6/6, CBS did a 1.5/5 and The CW scored a 0.8/3.

Fox’s Lethal Weapon drew a flat 1.6 and Empire was down 10% from its last fresh airing at 2.8.

NBC was in Christmas mode, with Christmas in Rockefeller Center at 1.7, and the same score for Dolly Parton’s Christmas of Many Colors. The movie drew 11.5 million viewers; last year’s Coat of Many Colors had a 1.8 and 13 million total viewers.

ABC’s The Goldbergs was down 6% to 1.7, Speechless fell 6% to 1.5, Modern Family was a flat 2.2 and Black-ish grew 13% to 1.8. Designated Survivor scored a 1.3, up 8%.

On CBS, Survivor climbed 27% to 1.9, Criminal Minds posted a flat 1.4 and Code Black ticked up 11% to 1.0.  

On The CW, crossover-fueled Arrow shot up 85% to 1.3, while Frequency drew a flat 0.3.

Michael Malone

Michael Malone, senior content producer at B+C/Multichannel News, covers network programming, including entertainment, news and sports on broadcast, cable and streaming; and local broadcast television. He hosts the podcasts Busted Pilot, about what’s new in television, and Series Business, a chat with the creator of a new program, and writes the column “The Watchman.” He joined B+C in 2005. His journalism has also appeared in The New York Times, The Philadelphia Inquirer, Playboy and New York magazine.