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[05/19/16 - 08:43 AM]
Wednesday's Broadcast Ratings: "Empire" Rises with Its Season Finale
By The Futon Critic Staff (TFC)

Primetime Preliminary Fast National Nielsen Data
(includes all DVR playback through 3:00 am)

Here are the highlights of the 14 ad-sustained programs that aired in primetime on the broadcast networks last night (5/18/16):

FOX (7.735 million viewers, #2; adults 18-49: 2.7, #1) was the demo champ once again on Wednesday with a new "Rosewood" (4.692 million viewers, #10; adults 18-49: 1.4, #T8) and the season finale of "Empire" (10.778 million viewers, #1; adults 18-49: 4.0, #1).

CBS (8.655 million viewers, #1; adults 18-49: 1.9, #2) then claimed the silver with the finale to "Survivor: Kaoh Rong" (9.566 million viewers, #2; adults 18-49: 2.1, #T2) alongside the "Survivor: Kaoh Rong Reunion" (6.835 million viewers, #4; adults 18-49: 1.5, #T6).

Next up was ABC (5.394 million viewers, #4; adults 18-49: 1.4, #3) with the season finales of "The Middle" (6.668 million viewers, #6; adults 18-49: 1.6, #5), "The Goldbergs" (6.322 million viewers, #7; adults 18-49: 1.8, #4), "Modern Family" (6.789 million viewers, #5; adults 18-49: 2.1, #T2) and "Black-ish" (5.090 million viewers, #9; adults 18-49: 1.5, #T6) plus a new "Nashville" (3.748 million viewers, #12; adults 18-49: 0.8, #T11).

Meanwhile, NBC (5.450 million viewers, #3; adults 18-49: 1.1, #4) offered up originals from "Heartbeat" (3.844 million viewers, #11; adults 18-49: 0.7, #T13), "Law & Order: Special Victims Unit" (5.626 million viewers, #8; adults 18-49: 1.2, #10) and "Chicago PD" (6.882 million viewers, #3; adults 18-49: 1.4, #T8).

And finally, new episodes of "Arrow" (2.152 million viewers, #13; adults 18-49: 0.8, #T11) and "Supernatural" (1.917 million viewers, #14; adults 18-49: 0.7, #T13) on The CW (2.035 million viewers, #5; adults 18-49: 0.7, #5) closed out the night.

Week-to-week changes (adults 18-49):
+27.27% - Rosewood
+11.11% - Empire
0.00% - Survivor: Kaoh Rong
0.00% - Modern Family
0.00% - The Goldbergs
0.00% - The Middle
0.00% - Chicago PD
0.00% - Arrow
0.00% - Heartbeat
0.00% - Supernatural
-6.25% - Black-ish
-11.11% - Nashville
-14.29% - Law & Order: Special Victims Unit

Year-to-year changes (adults 18-49):

+233.33% - Empire (vs. MasterChef)
+166.67% - Arrow (vs. Supernatural (Repeat))
+50.00% - The Goldbergs (vs. 500 Questions)
+33.33% - The Middle (vs. 500 Questions)
+16.67% - Rosewood (vs. MasterChef)
0.00% - Chicago PD
0.00% - Supernatural
-4.55% - Survivor: Kaoh Rong
-4.55% - Modern Family
-6.25% - Black-ish
-11.76% - Survivor: Kaoh Rong Reunion
-14.29% - Law & Order: Special Victims Unit
-20.00% - Nashville (vs. Celebrity Wife Swap)
-36.36% - Heartbeat (vs. The Mysteries of Laura)

In late-night metered market ratings (via NBC's press release):

· In Nielsen's 56 metered markets, household results were: "The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon," 2.5/6; "Late Show with Stephen Colbert," 1.6/4; and ABC's "Jimmy Kimmel Live," 1.6/4.

· In the 25 markets with Local People Meters, adult 18-49 results were: "The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon," 0.8/4; "Late Show," 0.3/1; and "Jimmy Kimmel Live," 0.5/2.

· From 12:35-1:05 a.m. ET, ABC's "Nightline" averaged a 1.1/4 in metered-market households and a 0.4/2 in 18-49 in the Local People Meters.

· From 12:35-1:35 a.m. ET, "Late Night with Seth Meyers" (1.2/4 in metered-market households) beat CBS's "Late Late Show" (0.9/3). In the 25 markets with Local People Meters, "Late Night" (0.4/3 in 18-49) topped "Late Late Show" (0.2/1).

· At 1:35 a.m., "Last Call with Carson Daly" averaged a 0.7/3 in metered-market households and a 0.2/2 in adults 18-49 in the 25 markets with local people meters.


Here are the highlights of the 12 ad-sustained programs that aired in primetime on the broadcast networks one year ago (5/20/15):

CBS (8.987 million viewers, #1; adults 18-49: 2.1, #1) was the network to beat on the final night of May sweeps with the season finale of "Survivor: Worlds Apart" (9.406 million viewers, #1; adults 18-49: 2.2, #T1) followed by the "Survivor: Worlds Apart Reunion" (6.890 million viewers, #6; adults 18-49: 1.7, #3).

ABC (4.871 million viewers, #3; adults 18-49: 1.4, #2) then fell to second place despite the premiere of "500 Questions" (5.031 million viewers, #8; adults 18-49: 1.2, #T7), the season finales of "Modern Family" (7.114 million viewers, #5; adults 18-49: 2.2, #T1) and "Black-ish" (5.392 million viewers, #7; adults 18-49: 1.6, #4) plus the return of "Celebrity Wife Swap" (3.329 million viewers, #10; adults 18-49: 1.0, #10).

Next up was NBC (7.227 million viewers, #2; adults 18-49: 1.3, #3) with the season finales of "The Mysteries of Laura" (7.256 million viewers, #2; adults 18-49: 1.1, #9), "Law & Order: Special Victims Unit" (7.235 million viewers, #3; adults 18-49: 1.4, #T5) and "Chicago PD" (7.192 million viewers, #4; adults 18-49: 1.4, #T5).

Meanwhile, FOX (3.335 million viewers, #4; adults 18-49: 1.2, #4) served up the season premiere of "MasterChef" (3.335 million viewers, #9; adults 18-49: 1.2, #T7).

And finally, a repeat "Supernatural" (1.074 million viewers, #12; adults 18-49: 0.3, #12) and the season finale of "Supernatural" (1.782 million viewers, #11; adults 18-49: 0.7, #11) on The CW (1.428 million viewers, #5; adults 18-49: 0.5, #5) closed out the evening. In the netlet's target demo (women 18-34), the former delivered a 0.3 rating while the latter posted a 0.6 rating.

Week-to-week changes (adults 18-49):
+10.00% - The Mysteries of Laura
0.00% - Survivor: Worlds Apart
-6.67% - Law & Order: Special Victims Unit
-12.50% - Chicago PD
-12.50% - Supernatural
-18.52% - Modern Family
-23.81% - Black-ish

Year-to-year changes (adults 18-49):
+40.00% - Supernatural (vs. The 100)
+23.08% - Black-ish (vs. Mixology)
+11.11% - Celebrity Wife Swap (vs. Motive)
0.00% - The Mysteries of Laura (vs. Revolution)
-12.00% - Survivor: Worlds Apart
-12.50% - Law & Order: Special Victims Unit
-12.50% - Chicago PD
-15.00% - Survivor: Worlds Apart Reunion
-38.46% - 500 Questions (vs. The Middle/The Middle)
-38.89% - Modern Family
-53.85% - MasterChef (vs. American Idol)

In late-night metered market ratings (via NBC's press release):

· In Nielsen's 56 metered markets, household results were: "The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon," 2.0/5; CBS's "Late Show with David Letterman," 9.3/24; and ABC's "Jimmy Kimmel Live," 1.3/3 with an encore.

· In the 25 markets with Local People Meters, adult 18-49 results were: "The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon," 0.8/4; "Late Show," 2.8/14; and "Jimmy Kimmel Live," 0.5/2 with an encore.

· From 12:35-1:05 a.m. ET, ABC's "Nightline" averaged a 0.8/2 in metered-market households and a 0.3/2 in 18-49 in the Local People Meters.

· From 12:35-1:35 a.m. ET, "Late Night with Seth Meyers" (1.0/3 in metered-market households) trailed CBS's "Late Late Show with James Corden" (2.6/10, delayed by a "Late Show" overrun). In the 25 markets with Local People Meters, "Late Night" (0.4/3 in 18-49) trailed "Late Late Show" (0.8/6 delayed by a "Late Show" overrun).

· At 1:35 a.m., "Last Call with Carson Daly" averaged a 0.6/3 in metered-market households and a 0.3/3 in adults 18-49 in the 25 markets with local people meters.

Source: Nielsen Media Research





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