TV Ratings: ‘Empire’ Dips Again, ‘Survivor’ Ties as Wednesday’s Top Show

Facing competition from the NBA playoffs, “Empire” fell to another all-time low.

The Fox drama drew a 1.8 rating in the 18-49 demo Wednesday night, down 14% from last week — when the show hit, what was, at the time, a series-low 2.1. In the first half of the 9 p.m. hour, ABC’s “Modern Family” came within spitting distance of “Empire,” drawing a 1.6. Miniseries “Shots Fired” was even with last week at 8 p.m. for Fox with a 0.8. “Empire” averaged 5.6 million viewers, while “Shot’s Fired” drew 3.1 million. Fox averaged a 1.3 ratings and 5 share in the demo.

CBS won the night with a 1.4 rating and 6 share — only the second time that another network has led 18-49 ratings on a night when Fox aired an original “Empire.” (NBC beat Fox Dec. 7 with its broadcast of “Hairspray Live!”) “Survivor” at 8 p.m. tied “Empire” as the night’s top show in the demo with a 1.8. The long-running reality competition was the top show in total viewers with 8.11 million. “Criminal Minds” and “Criminal Minds: Beyond Borders” were up one tenth in the demo at 1.4 and 7.2 million viewers, and 0.9 and 5 million viewers, respectively.

“Modern Family” drew 5.5 million viewers. “The Goldbergs” (1.4, 5.2 million) and “Speechless” (1.2, 4.4 million) led off the night even with last week in 18-49. “Black-ish” was even at 9:30 p.m. with a 1.2 in the demo and 4.2 million viewers. “Designated Survivor” was down two tenths at 0.9 and drew 5 million viewers. ABC was third with a 1.2/5 followed by NBC at 1.0/4 and the CW at 0.5/2.

For NBC, “Blindspot” was even at 0.9 and drew 4.2 million viewers. “Law & Order: SVU” (1.0, 5 million) and “Chicago PD” (1.1, 6 million) were both down one tenth.

On the CW, “Arrow” was even at 0.5. “The 100” dropped one tenth to 0.3.

Get more from Variety and Variety411: Follow us on Twitter, Facebook, Newsletter