Fast National ratings for Wednesday, February 11, 2015.
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. [The only demo “Empire” appears not to have won outright is men 25-54, where it tied with “Modern Family.”] 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.
[UPDATE: In Final Live+Same Day numbers, “Empire” ticked up to a 4.8 rating among adults 18-49 and to 11.96 million viewers. “Idol” also ticked up to a 2.8 key demo rating and 10.66 million. As long as I'm feeling positive, “Arrow” went up to 2.67 million viewers and a 1.1 key demo rating. What went down? Well, “The 100” dipped to a 0.5 key demo rating and 1.36 million viewers and “Black-ish” and “The Goldbergs” both dropped 0.1 in the key demo. “The Mentalist” and “Criminal Minds” also slipped 0.1 in the key demo, as did “The Mysteries of Laura.” And that three-way logjam for first in the 18-49 demo in the 10 p.m. hour? Unchanged.]
All ratings information comes from preliminary Fast National Nielsen data, which includes live and same-day DVR viewing. All numbers are subject to change.