More Growth for the Hefty “Empire” Season-Ender

“Empire” on Fox, the biggest new network series hit in years, concluded its first season with two episodes and more record ratings Wednesday night.

According to TV Media Insights, The 8-9 p.m. installment scored a 10.4 rating/17 share in the household overnights, which was three percent above the record 10.1/16 one week earlier (at 9 p.m.). And the regularly scheduled 9-10 p.m. edition rose to an 11.2/17, which compared to the already potent series debut on Jan. 14 (6.8/10) was an increase of 65 percent.

Ratings for “Empire” grew every week, with the 10.1/16 last week translating into 14.92 million viewers and a 5.8 rating/17 share among adults 18-49 (based on the Live + Same Day data).  “Empire” more than doubled the No. 2 occupant in the 8-10 p.m. block, two episodes of “Survivor” on CBS (5.4/ 9).  And “Empire’s” advantage over two-hours of “American Idol” on the year-ago evening (6.7/11 on 3/19/14) was 61 percent.  Once the Live +7 Day is factored in, “Empire” should have no trouble surpassing 20-million viewers.  This is what you would call a massive hit.

Twelve-episode overnight track for “Empire”: 6.8/10 – 7.3/11 – 7.6/12 – 7.9/12 – 8.0/12 – 8.2/13 – 8.8/13 – 9.2/14 – 9.6/15 – 10.1/16 – 10.4/17 – 11.2/17.

Empire debuted on Fox on January 7, 2015. The show centers around a hip hop music and entertainment company, Empire Entertainment, and the drama among the members of the founders' family as they fight for control of the company. The hour-long family drama was created by Lee Daniels and Danny Strong, and stars Terrence Howard and Taraji P. Henson.

On January 17, 2015, the series was renewed for a second season.

Meanwhile, Hulu has acquired the exclusive subscription video-on-demand rights for Fox’s red-hot “Empire.”  Under a pack with Twentieth Century Fox Television, all 12 season one episodes, which concluded on the network this week, and any future episodes will air on both Hulu and Hulu Plus.