http://www.hitfix.com/the-fien-print/tv-ratings-cookie-monster-builds-as-empire-rises-again-for-fox-wednesday

TV Ratings: Cookie monster builds as 'Empire' rises again for FOX Wednesday


'American Idol' slips, while all three CBS dramas rise
By Daniel Fienberg @HitFixDaniel | Thursday, Feb 12, 2015 11:45 AM


Another week and, yup, more growth for "Empire," which continues to buck any sort of expectations or recent TV blueprint, maintaining FOX's domination of Wednesday even in a week that saw a dip for "American Idol."

Wednesday saw dips for "Chicago PD," "The Middle," "Modern Family" and "Arrow," while "The Mysteries of Laura" and all three CBS dramas rose.

On to the numbers...

Among adults 18-49, FOX averaged a 3.7 rating for Wednesday night, tops in the key demographic. FOX's total equalled the combined numbers for ABC (2.1 rating) and CBS (1.6 rating) in the key demo. NBC averaged a 1.3 key demo rating, followed by the 0.8 key demo rating for The CW on the night.

Overall, FOX averaged an estimated 11.16 million viewers and a 6.8 rating/11 share for Wednesday primetime, far ahead of the 8.87 million viewers and 5.7/10 for CBS for the night. ABC's 4.4/7 and 6.99 million viewers topped the 6.2 million viewers and 4.0/7 averaged by NBC. The CW averaged 1.3/2 and 2.09 million viewers for the night.

8 p.m. - Even with a drop, FOX's "American Idol" won the 8 p.m. hour with 10.4 million viewers and a 2.7 rating among adults 18-49. CBS' "The Mentalist" was second with 9.05 million viewers and third with a 1.5 key demo rating. ABC's "The Middle" (7.91 million and a 2.1 key demo) and "The Goldbergs" (6.95 million and a 2.3 key demo) easily topped the 5.95 million viewers and 1.1 key demo rating for NBC's "The Mysteries of Laura." The CW's "Arrow" averaged 2.59 million viewers and a 1.0 key demo rating.

9 p.m. - "Empire" ruled the 9 p.m. hour with 11.92 million viewers and a 4.7 rating among adults 18-49. CBS' "Criminal Minds" was second with just under 10 million viewers and third with a 2.0 key demo rating. ABC was second in the key demo and third overall with "Modern Family" (9.8 million and a 3.3 key demo) and "Black-ish" (6.93 million and a 2.2 key demo). NBC's "Law & Order: Special Victims Unit" averaged 6.17 million viewers and a 1.4 key demo rating in fourth, followed by the 1.59 million viewers and 0.6 key demo rating for The CW's "The 100."

10 p.m. - In the 10 p.m. hour, CBS' "Stalker" averaged 7.58 million viewers to the 6.48 million for NBC's "Chicago PD" and the 5.17 million viewers for ABC's "Nashville." In a rare three-way tie, each of the network dramas averaged a 1.4 rating among adults 18-49, with "Nashville" and "Chicago PD" tying among adults 18-34 and "Stalker" leading among adults 25-54.