March 12--Fox's freshman hit "Empire" dominated Wednesday night TV ratings again, climbing in viewers for its ninth consecutive week.
The series, which premiered on Jan. 7, was No. 1 with 14.7-million viewers and a rating of 5.6 in the key 18-to-49-year-old demographic, according to Nielsen ratings. However, the show dipped slightly in the key desired demo, down 2% from last week.
Wednesday's episode also averaged 750,258 tweets during the live broadcast, according to Nielsen Social Guide and Twitter. The tweet volume is a record high for the show, helping it surpass other popular, tweeted about shows "The Walking Dead" and "Scandal."
Created by Academy Award nominee Lee Daniels and Emmy Award-winner Danny Strong, the show follows music tycoon Luscious Lyon (Terrence Howard). After being diagnosed with a terminal illness, Luscious has to decide how to divvy up his business among his three sons: Jamal (Jussie Smollett), Andre (Trai Byers) and Hakeem (Bryshere Y. Gray).
The show has surged 47% in the key demo since its premiere, more than any new broadcast drama since "House" in 2004. Fox will air the show's two-hour season finale next week.
The network's singing competition "American Idol" also saw a boost in ratings. The episode was second to "Empire" in the key demo and up 10% from last week with a rating of 2.3. It averaged 9.3-million viewers.
Meanwhile, CBS' "Survivor" edged slightly behind in third in the key demo with a rating of 2.2. It racked up 9.4-million viewers.
"Criminal Minds," was up 11% from last week with a rating of 2.1 in the key demo.
Also on the network, "CSI: Cyber," which premiered last week, stayed steady with 9.7-million viewers and a rating of 1.8 in the key demo.
Both NBC and The CW aired repeats of their Wednesday night shows. ABC, which also aired mostly reruns, also featured a "Black-ish: Bloopers" special, which tied with "Modern Family" rerun with a rating of 1.5 in the key demo.
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