ABC’s broadcast was the night’s #2 program in adults 18-49 (behind “Empire”, 4.6) and #1 program in total viewership.
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“Empire” returned to the Fox lineup almost on par with its prior episode despite taking a week of, remaining the dominant series on a night carried overall by ABC and the “49th Annual CMA Awards”, even if the kudocast was down about 15% and at or near record lows in various categories. This marks the first time that any network has bested Fox on a Wednesday with an original episode of “Empire” airing. It was down from previous year by 16% in 18-49 (13% if it is revised up to a 3.9) and is now matching the show’s lowest demo score to date (set in 2012); it’s also off by about 15% in total viewers (from 16.25 million) to what is an all-time low.
Brad Paisley, left, and Carrie Underwood perform during the opening monologue at the 49th annual CMA Awards at the Bridgestone Arena on Wednesday, November 4, 2015, in Nashville, Tenn.
In spite of that, the CMA Awards’ year-to-year performance was down in both rating and total viewers compared to 2014, dipping by 0.7 and 2.3 million, respectively, according to ZAP2IT. That is a 16 percent drop year over year. While “Empire” itself slipped slightly from an 8.2 overnight household rating to a 7.9 and likely does not skew too heavily in the direction of country music fans, it still represented serious competition. Closing the night, a new Code Black (6.4 mil/1.2) inched up a tenth. “Law & Order: SVU” got 6.5 million viewers and 1.5 rating at 9. At 8, “The Mysteries of Laura” pulled in 7 million viewers with a 1.2 rating.
Meanwhile, FOX (3.247 million viewers, #4; adults 18-49: 1.1, #4) offered up new episodes of “Hell’s Kitchen” (3.619 million viewers, #8; adults 18-49: 1.3, #T6) and “Red Band Society” (2.874 million viewers, #9; adults 18-49: 0.9, #10).
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NBC was fourth with 6.7 million viewers and a 1.4 rating in the demo.
