Fox’s ‘Empire’ Is A Hit!

Fox’s freshman series Empire is defying expectations and continuing to prove it rules Wednesday nights.

The musical drama series has seen an unprecedented growth in ratings for five straight weeks. Since its premiere on January 7 with 9.9 million viewers, viewership has increased with each episode: 10.3 million, 11.1 million, 11.4 million, 11.5 million and now 11.9 million for last night’s episode.

Last week, Empire also became the first series in the history of of Nielsen’s People Meters, which dates back to 1991, to grow in viewership for each of the four episodes following its premiere.

With Empire and American Idol as its lead-in, Fox dominated Wednesday night in the key demographic of 18-49 year olds with an average rating of 3.7.

Empire airs Wednesdays nights at 8pm CST on Fox.