Ratings: ‘Empire’ Season 5 Premiere Leads Primetime Despite 21 Percent Decline From 2017

Fox and CBS tied for first in Wednesday’s ratings, when the season premieres for “Empire” and “Star” duked it out with the start to a new “Survivor” and the Season 20 finale of “Big Brother.”

NBC finished first in primetime total viewers, returning all three of its “Chicago” shows for their fall runs.

ABC’s “A Million Little Things,” the lone drama series premiere on broadcast last night, got off to a bit of a slow start at 10 p.m. It’s direct lead-in, the debut of “Single Parents,” didn’t exactly light the world on fire either. The new shows fared fine in their ABC time slots.

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CBS and Fox tied for first in ratings, both with a 1.7 rating/7 share in the advertiser-coveted 18-49 demographic. CBS was second in total viewers with 6.7 million; Fox was third with 5.4 million, according to preliminary numbers.

For CBS, the “Survivor” season premiere at 8 landed a 1.7/8 and 7.9 million viewers. The “Big Brother” season finale from 9-11 averaged a 1.7/7 and 6.1 million viewers.

For Fox, “Empire” at 8 posted a 1.9/9 and 6.1 million viewers. At 9, “Star” returned to a 1.5/6 and 4.7 million viewers.

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ABC was third in ratings with a 1.3/6 and fourth in viewers with 5 million. The “Goldbergs” season premiere at 8 had a 1.4/7 and 5.1 million viewers. The “American Housewife” season premiere at 8:30 got a 1.2/5 and 4.4 million viewers. The “Modern Family” season opener at 9 put up a 1.6/7 and 5.4 million viewers. At 9:30, “Single Parents” started out to a 1.3/5 and 4.9 million viewers. “A Million Little Things” at 10 received a 1.1/5 and 5.1 million viewers.

NBC was fourth in ratings with a 1.2/5, but first in viewers with 7.6 million. “Chicago Med” at 8 had a 1.2/5 and 7.7 million viewers. At 9, “Chicago Fire” got a 1.2/5 and 8 million viewers. “Chicago PD” at 10 received the same rating/share as the other two, and had 7.1 million viewers.

Telemundo was fifth in ratings with a 0.5/2 and sixth in viewers with 1.33 million.

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Univision was sixth in ratings with a 0.4/2 and fifth in viewers with 1.34 million.

The CW was seventh in ratings with a 0.1/1 and in viewers with 543,000. “Burden of Truth” at 8 had a 0.1/1 and 583,000 viewers. A rerun followed.