(February 10, 2015) Fox’s unprecedented hit drama, “Empire” has set a record among television debuts with four straight weeks of audience growth. Of the 11.4 million of overall viewers, its core viewership of fans is 67 percent Black — the highest ever recorded for any prime time series. Move over Olivia and Annalise, Taraji P. Henson’s Cookie is the new queen of prime time.
CBS managed to remain the most popular TV network in Black households, with 17.4 million tuning into 13 of its shows on the Top 25 for the first week of February. Fox was second posting 13.25 million across just five programs. ABC took third with 10 million for four shows.
The total number of viewers for the most popular TV shows in Black homes, according to Nielsen, was down 28 percent from the previous Super Bowl week to 43.5 million.
Black TV Ratings for Week of February 2 – 8
Top 25 Broadcast TV Shows in Black Households
Rank | Program | Network | % of AA Homes | % of AA P2+ | No. of Viewers (000)
1 | EMPIRE | FOX | 36.3 | 19.7 | 7,669 |
2 | SCANDAL | ABC | 20.6 | 10.4 | 4,061 |
3 | GRAMMY AWARDS | CBS | 18.8 | 10.7 | 4,163 |
4 | HOW TO GET AWAY W/MURDER | ABC | 18.1 | 9.1 | 3,548 |
5 | AMERICAN IDOL-WEDNESDAY | FOX | 10.3 | 5.3 | 2,061 |
6 | GREY’S ANATOMY | ABC | 8.6 | 4.0 | 1,549 |
7 | NCIS: NEW ORLEANS | CBS | 7.6 | 3.7 | 1,429 |
8 | NCIS | CBS | 7.5 | 3.6 | 1,397 |
9 | BLUE BLOODS | CBS | 6.6 | 2.9 | 1,133 |
10 | HAWAII FIVE-0 | CBS | 6.5 | 2.8 | 1,103 |
11 | AMERICAN IDOL-THURSDAY | FOX | 6.4 | 3.3 | 1,278 |
12 | NCIS: LOS ANGELES | CBS | 6.2 | 3.1 | 1,210 |
13 | PERSON OF INTEREST | CBS | 6.1 | 3.1 | 1,226 |
14 | GOTHAM | FOX | 5.9 | 3.3 | 1,280 |
15 | APPRENTICE 14 | NBC | 5.7 | 2.7 | 1,046 |
16 | 60 MINUTES | CBS | 5.7 | 2.6 | 1,004 |
17 | UNDERCOVER BOSS | CBS | 5.5 | 2.5 | 967 |
18 | STALKER | CBS | 5.5 | 2.6 | 1,010 |
19 | THE BIG BANG THEORY | CBS | 5.1 | 2.7 | 1,056 |
20 | CHICAGO PD | NBC | 4.8 | 2.3 | 896 |
21 | BLACKLIST | NBC | 4.8 | 2.5 | 970 |
22 | SCORPION | CBS | 4.6 | 2.3 | 894 |
23 | SLEEPY HOLLOW | FOX | 4.6 | 2.4 | 939 |
24 | SHARK TANK | ABC | 4.5 | 2.2 | 866 |
25 | 48 HOURS | CBS | 4.4 | 2.1 | 835 |
Source: Nielsen. Number of viewers ages 2+ shown in thousands (1,000 = 1 million). Rankings are based on share of black households. Representing more than 13.45 million television households in the U.S., the African-American television audience is the largest minority segment in Nielsen’s measurement samples. All times are eastern.