Commentary

Conquest Of 'Empire': Fox Series Is Season's Top Success Story

The success of Fox’s “Empire” is the top story of the network television season.

This show proves that the only thing a TV network needs to do to turn itself around is to come up with a show that millions of people will watch, then tell some of their friends, who in turn will also watch, growing the show’s audience every week in the process.

As everyone knows, however, that “only thing” -- producing a network TV show that grows its viewership every week -- is not an easy thing to do. If it was, there would be a whole lot of hits on network TV doing as well as “Empire."

How well is “Empire” performing? Here’s why this show is noteworthy:

It’s not just the ratings, which are spectacular, but the way they have been increasing every single week since “Empire” premiered on Jan. 7. Total audience on that date amounted to 9.897 million viewers, with a 3.8 rating in the demo (18-49) -- respectable numbers, to say the least.

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Nine episodes later on this past Wednesday (March 4), “Empire” weighed in with a total audience of 14.33 million, with a demo rating of 5.8 -- an increase of 34%. So in just two months, “Empire” added 4.433 million viewers and two full rating points in the demo. That’s money in the bank.

The growth in viewership has been on a consistent upswing since the show’s premiere, with no plateaus or dips -- just a graph line steadily rising with each new episode -- a performance that is all too rare on TV.  

Last week, “Empire” -- airing Wednesday nights at 9 Eastern -- was ranked third among all shows on network TV in total viewers. This week, it might rank higher when the week is over. Its 5.8 demo rating will likely be the highest 18-49 rating in network television as well. The show was already No. 1 in the demo last week with a 5.4.

How did they do it? By making a great show that succeeds for both tangible and intangible reasons. The tangible ones encompass a number of elements of production: Writing, acting, direction, music (which is of paramount importance in a drama about the modern-day music industry).

The producers of “Empire,” led by co-creators Lee Daniels and Danny Strong, have assembled a very strong, multi-talented cast, all of whom have made their characters convincing and real. When you watch “Empire,” you really believe the show’s core characters -- Lucious and Cookie Lyon and their three grown sons -- are really members of the same family. You really get drawn into their stories -- their conflicts, histories and dysfunctions.

In this context, special mention must be made of Taraji P. Henson, playing the role of Cookie, the ex-con and ex-wife of hip-hop kingpin Lucious, played by Terrence Howard. Henson is turning in one of the great performances of this season, or any season. Those who have not yet sampled “Empire” are advised to tune in just to watch her work.

What are the intangibles? That’s a little difficult to describe, but maybe it has to do with timing. We are a very music-conscious society, and younger people in particular seem to have a never-ending fascination with the recording industry in general and the world of hip-hop in particular.

Maybe “Empire” came around at just the right time -- when the world was ripe for a prime-time drama series about the music business. It has been attempted before, by the way, with other such shows, but none were ever done this well or turned out so successfully.

It’s a cliché to describe a TV show as “addictive,” but it’s an accurate word to apply to “Empire.” The show keeps you tuned in, and that’s no mean feat. Or to put it another way: Cookie rules.

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