There was no ratings bump for locally-produced Empire which returned from winter hiatus with an original episode for the first time since Jussie Smollett’s arrest for filing a false police report.
In fact, the ratings were quite the opposite. One could almost call it, “a ratings dump.”
Wednesday’s 8 p.m. episode saw a 1.3 demo rating/6 share among adults 18-49, and 4.412 million total viewers. Those Nielsen numbers have severely dipped from last year’s comparable hour and are even down double digits versus the hip-hop soap opera’s fall finale. This according to The Wrap.
The last original Empire to air was on December 5. That episode had a 1.5 rating and 5.043 million total viewers.
To really put things in perspective, last year’s midseason return put up a 2.0 rating and tallied 6.217 million viewers. Wednesday’s hour was down 13 percent in both the demo and for the overall audience versus the fall finale, and down 35 percent in the demo and 29 percent in viewers from last year’s midseason premiere episode.
As a matter of fact, last night’s Empire drew the second-smallest audience and second-worst demo rating ever for Empire. The only episode to draw fewer “live” eyeballs (4.229 million) and a lower demo rating (a 1.2) aired on Halloween 2018, which makes sense, as people were out celebrating and not in front of their TVs.
That said, Fox still finished first in key-demo averages, but it just barely edged out ABC.
Could the tanking be due to the current Jussie Smollett scandal?
ALSO READ: Jussie Smollett charged with filing false police report
Smollett, who plays openly gay Jamal Lyons, was charged with 16 felony counts for disorderly conduct for filing a false police report, according to the Cook County State Attorney’s Office, related to his claim that he was the victim of a brutal hate crime in Chicago early in the morning of Jan. 29.
He has pleaded “Not Guilty” to all of the charges. However, Fox has removed him from the remaining two episodes this season.
Ahead of Empire’s return Wednesday night, the show’s executive producer Brett Mahoney spoke out for the the first time on what the shocking and disturbing allegations against Smollett mean for his character and the show
“You have someone in your family who’s going through this, while at the same time, we’re shooting the final episodes of the season,” he said. “So it was a lot to deal with and a lot to go through, but we’re really just focused on finishing strong.”
In regards to Smollett being written out of the final two episodes of the series, Mahoney says it was a “difficult decision,” but one they were able to make work because of the “strong ensemble” and available stories to tell.
“Allowing Jussie the time to really deal with what he’s been confronted with and allow him the time to focus and prepare his case, this seems like the logical decision to make,” he added.
Mahoney says it’s still “too early” for anyone to think about the show without Smollett, so for now, he’s “trusting the process and allowing the legal process to play out.”
However, in response to the rumors that “Empire” will be cancelled because of the controversy, the exec says he’s “confident” there will be another season.
Source: Good Morning America
