Source: Entertainment Weekly (Feb 6), Entertainment Weekly (Feb 19)
Fox’s ‘Empire’ just broke a 23-year ratings record (at least!)
“We’re starting to run out of ways to praise the ratings for Fox’s Empire… The 18-49 demo rating is impressive. The hip-hop drama is the strongest hour-long show this season. The ratings defy gravity by growing when the usual trend is almost always for a show to decline as its freshman season progresses.
But now there is this: Empire has broken a ratings record that stood for more than 23 years. According to Fox, Empire is the only primetime scripted series to grow in total viewers over each of its first five telecasts since at least 1991. This record has almost certainly stood for longer than that, but Nielsen revised its measuring system 23 years ago and so comparisons can only be properly calculated that far back…” (Continued at the source.)
Empire ratings: Guess what just happened
If your guess was: “Empire’s ratings just defied all the laws of broadcast television to once again rise to a record number” … then you would be right. Wednesday’s episode hit 12.9 million viewers and a huge 5.1 rating among adults 18-49. That’s up 6 percent from last week in the demo (which, of course, was a record rating too).
In total viewers, Empire has gone up every single week – six total – since its premiere… I asked one broadcast analyst for a historic comparison point to help put the latest gain into some kind of perspective… The rep replied: “…It has literally exceeded all Nielsen total viewer records to date.” In other words, after Empire broke that record a couple weeks ago where the hip-hop drama series posted more consecutive ratings gains than any other new broadcast show in at least 23 years, the rise of Empire has become unprecidented [sic]… (Continued at the source.)
Maps of the Heart 