TV Ratings: ‘Survivor,’ ‘Amazing Race’ premieres can’t halt ‘Empire’ rise

Fast National ratings for Wednesday, February 25, 2015.

With “Survivor” coming in to seemingly inevitably take a bite out of “American Idol,” this looked like a good week for FOX to finally suffer a tiny Wednesday night decline.

Nope.

While “American Idol” posted a very small drop against the latest “Survivor” premiere, “Empire” remained an unfathomable force-of-nature, rising yet again in both viewers and the key demo as FOX was up week-to-week in dominating Wednesday in all measures.

The “Survivor” finale was down in young viewers from the fall launch, but not by enough to even acknowledge. The “Survivor” audience is what it is — actually up a hair overall — and in Season 30, that's mighty impressive. On the sadder side, even on a better night and with a lead-in, “The Amazing Race” failed to get much for a bump for its latest premiere, before heading back to Friday.

There were nice Wednesday bumps for headily promoted episodes of “The Goldbergs” and “Modern Family,” while in the always tight 10 p.m. race, “Chicago PD” was able to edge out “Nashville,” in part because “Law & Order: Special Victims Unit” grew without “Criminal Minds.”

On to the numbers…

Among adults 18-49, FOX averaged a 4.0 rating for Wednesday night, easily the best in the key demographic. ABC was a distant second with a 2.2 key demo rating, followed by the 1.9 key demo rating for CBS. NBC was fourth with a 1.5 key demo rating, followed by the 0.8 key demo rating for The CW for the night.

Overall, FOX averaged an estimated 11.97 million viewers and a 7.0 rating/11 share for Wednesday primetime. CBS was a distant second with 7.97 million viewers and a 4.6/8 for the night. NBC averaged a 4.9/6 and 7.56 million viewers to the 4.2/7 and 6.77 million viewers for ABC. The CW averaged 2.33 million viewers and a 1.4/2 for Wednesday.

8 p.m. – “American Idol” led the 8 p.m. hour with 10.18 million viewers and a 2.6 rating among adults 18-49 for the season's first performance episode, topping the 9.84 million viewers and 2.3 key demo rating for the first hour of the “Survivor: Worlds Apart” premiere. NBC's “Mysteries of Laura” was third with 7.645 million viewers, but a distant fourth with a 1.4 key demo rating. ABC was fourth overall and tied for second in the key demographic with “The Middle” (7.39 million viewers and a 2.0 key demo) and “The Goldbergs” (7.46 million viewers and a 2.5 key demo rating). The CW's “Arrow” averaged 2.87 million viewers and a 1.0 key demo rating.

9 p.m. – “Empire” averaged 13.75 million viewers and a 5.3 rating among adults 18-49 in yet another week of mind-boggling growth. CBS was second overall and third in the key demo with a half-hour of “Survivor” (9.98 million and a 2.4 key demo) and swift turn-off for the first-hour of “Amazing Race” (6.47 million and a 1.5 key demo). ABC was third overall and second in the key demo with “Modern Family” (9.3 million and a 3.4 key demo) and “Black-ish” (6.72 million and a 2.3 key demo). NBC's “Law & Order: Special Victims Unit” averaged 7.69 million viewers and a 1.6 key demo rating, finishing second in viewers for the 9:30 half-hour. The CW's “The 100” averaged 1.79 million viewers and a 0.6 key demo rating. 

10 p.m. – “Chicago PD” led the 10 p.m. hour with 7.35 million viewers and also tied for first with a 1.5 rating among adults 18-49 for NBC. CBS' “The Amazing Race” was second with 5.86 million viewers and also averaged a 1.5 key demo rating. That left “Nashville” in a close third with 4.875 million viewers and a 1.4 key demo rating.

All ratings information comes from preliminary Fast National Nielsen data, which includes live and same-day DVR viewing. All numbers are subject to change.

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