• by Wayne Friedman , January 9, 2015

Although we are only a couple of days into the second half of the season, Fox continues to vie for comeback network of the year.

It won the 18-49 ratings category on Wednesday (a Nielsen 3.0 share/9 share live-plus-same day average rating) and Thursday (3.4 rating).

Although “American Idol” isn’t the same show of years ago, a 3.0/9 for Thursday and a 3.2/10 on Wednesday in its season premiere are still some big scores for prime-time network television. (CBS’ “Big Bang Theory” posted the best individual results on Thursday with a 4.5/14.)

Over two days, the biggest Fox program news was the start of “Empire,” its new 9 p.m. Wednesday drama about the music business — earning a strong 3.8/11. For many analysts the bigger positive news was that it outperformed a strong “Idol” lead-in — rare for many new first-time network shows these days.

This result for “Empire” tied ABC’s “How to Get Away With Murder” as the season’s No. 1 rookie debut. “Empire” also outdid perennial Wednesday 9 p.m. champ, ABC’s “Modern Family,” which posted a 3.2/9, up one-tenth of a rating point from its previous outing.

On Thursday Fox scored a 3.0/9 among 18-49 viewers, followed by CBS with a 2.4/7; NBC at a 1.2/1; ABC with a 0.8/2; and CW at a 0.3/1. On Wednesday Fox earned a 3.4/10, followed by ABC with a 2.0/6; CBS at a 1.6/5; NBC with a 1.5/5; and CW at a  0.3/1.

Through the first 15 weeks of the season — through January 4 — Fox sits in fourth place with an average Nielsen 2.0 rating among 18-49 viewers in live airing plus seven days of time-shifted viewing -- and was in fourth place among total viewers, averaging 5.9 million.