RATINGS RECAP: 3/18/15

ABC
8:00 The Middle (Repeat)
Viewers: 5.1 million, 18-49 demo: 1.2
8:30 The Goldbergs (Repeat)
Viewers: 4.5 million, 18-49 demo: 1.3
9:00 Modern Family (Repeat)
Viewers: 5.5 million, 18-49 demo: 1.5
9:30 Black-ish (Repeat)
Viewers: 4.4 million, 18-49 demo: 1.3
10:00 20/20: The Untold Story of The Sound of Music
Viewers: 7.3 million, 18-49 demo: 1.4

CBS
8:00 Survivor
Viewers: 9.6 million, 18-49 demo: 2.3
10:00 CSI: Cyber
Viewers: 8.0 million, 18-49 demo: 1.4

NBC
8:00 The Mysteries of Laura (Repeat)
Viewers: 4.4 million, 18-49 demo: 0.6
9:00 Law & Order: SVU (Repeat)
Viewers: 4.8 million, 18-49 demo: 0.8
10:00 Chicago PD (Repeat)
Viewers: 4.3 million, 18-49 demo: 0.9

FOX
8:00 Empire
Viewers: 15.8 million, 18-49 demo: 6.1
9:00 Empire
Viewers: 17.6 million, 18-49 demo: 6.9

The phenomenon that was Empire's first season came to an end on Wednesday night with one final night of unbelievable growth. The 8pm episode was strong and then the 9pm episode was up a whopping 2.7 million viewers and 1.1 demo points. Remember when its premiere was considered a huge success with 9.9 million viewers and a 3.8 demo? Well, it's season finale just got 17.6 million viewers and a 6.9 demo. This is, without question, the biggest show to hit broadcast TV in years... maybe since the 2004 explosion of Lost and Desperate Housewives in ABC when you consider it compared to the rest of the TV landscape. The question now is, will it be able to sustain itself in season two and how will FOX schedule it? Regardless of what happens, this show has single-handedly saved FOX from a disastrous season. On CBS, a two hour episode of Survivor performed well despite the Empire competition. It was up three tenths in viewers and a tenth in the demo from last week's one hour episode. The news was not as good at 10pm where CSI: Cyber fell 1.7 million viewers and three tenths in the demo. It had a better lead-in and limited competition, so this was very disappointing. An ABC 20/20 special on The Sound of Music made some noise in the total viewer count at 10pm. It skewed old but tied CSI: Cyber for a demo win in the hour.

WINNER OF THE NIGHT: Empire (FOX)
LOSER OF THE NIGHT: CSI: Cyber (CBS)