‘Empire’ Ignited Fox Tops Wednesday Overnights

WEDNESDAY, APRIL 27, 2016

Note: The following overnight averages exclude the Houston and Denver markets.

Household Rating/Share
Fox: 5.3 rating/8 share, CBS: 4.4/ 7, ABC: 3.6/ 6, NBC: 2.6/ 4, CW: 1.4/ 2

Percent Change from the Year-Ago Evening:
Fox: no change, CW: -12, CBS: -19, ABC: -20, NBC: -50

Ratings Breakdown:
Led by “Empire, Fox topped the Wednesday overnights with a 0.9 household rating point advantage over second-place CBS. “Empire” scored a 7.0 rating/11 share from 9-10 p.m., doubling lead-in “Rosewood” (#3: 3.5/ 6 at 8 p.m.).

Addictive “Survivor” on CBS remained a force to reckon with at a dominant 5.8/10 at 8 p.m., which was four percent above the 5.6/ 9 on the year-ago evening. Next on the Eye next was a repeat of veteran “Criminal Minds” at a third-place 3.3/ 5 at 9 p.m., followed by recently introduced spin-off “Criminal Minds: Beyond Borders” at a first-place 4.2/ 7 at 10 p.m. While “Criminal Minds: Beyond Borders” did build from the 9:30 p.m. portion of the “Criminal Minds” encore (3.1/ 5) by 35 percent, it was still 12 percent below “CSI: Cyber” on the year-ago evening (4.8/ 8 on 4/28/15).

On NBC, struggling medical drama “Heartbeat” (#4: 2.9/ 5) was 12 percent below a repeat of “Chicago PD” in this time period on the year-ago evening (3.3/ 5 on 4/28/15). And it led into second-run episodes of “Law & Order: SVU” (#4: 2.5/ 4) and “Chicago PD” (#3: 2.6/ 4) from 9-11 p.m.

Elsewhere, tops for the night on ABC was underrated “The Middle” at a second-place 4.6/ 8 in the 8 p.m. half-hour. And that led into “The Goldbergs” at a 4.1/ 7 at 8:30 p.m. (#2), followed by a repeat of “Modern Family” (#2: 3.6/ 6), “black-ish” (#32: 3.3/ 5) and on-the-fence “Nashville” at a 2.9/ 5 (#2) at 10 p.m. My prediction is ABC will order 13-new episodes for a final season of “Nashville.” I also think either “The Middle” or “The Goldbergs” will move to Tuesday next season.

The CW had nothing unusual to report with its pairing of “Arrow” (#5: 1.6/ 2) and “Supernatural” (#5: 1.2/ 2).

Source: Nielsen Media Research