Spotted Ratings, Wednesday 3/18/15

WHAT MATTERS:

• FINALS UPDATE: Empire was separated into two hours in the finals, each of which adjusted up a tenth (6.1/6.9). Survivor (2.3) and Arrow (0.9) were also up while Supernatural (0.6) was down.

• The two-hour finale of Empire produced one last night of big growth; it averaged 16.5 million viewers and a 6.4 A18-49 rating. These were both up by about 10% from the previous series highs set last week, and further upward adjustments seem likely. The show started at last week's number (5.8) in the 8:00 half-hour and grew as high as a whooping 6.9 (in other words, very close to normal The Walking Dead territory) by the end.

• The only networks that went original vs. Empire were CBS, where Survivor had a very respectable 2.2 for a two hour episode, and the CW, where Arrow (0.8) took a sizable hit and Supernatural (0.7) had an OK but low-end transition to Wednesday.

• In the 10:00 hour, CSI: Cyber (1.4) had a disheartening week three drop with a lead-in that was no weaker than last week's Criminal Minds but likely less compatible. And ABC made some real noise with a The Sound of Music-themed special (1.4) that basically tied normal Nashville numbers. I'd say Empire served as a de facto lead-in for this thing, but the skews suggest they had extremely different audiences. (For example, the ABC special had almost exactly as many 50+ viewers as Empire!)

FULL TABLE:

Info		Show						Timeslot		True
	A18-49	Skew	Last		LeLa	Rank	y2y	TLa	Ty2y
The Middle (R)	1.2	30%						+0%	-14%	1.5
The Goldbergs (R)	1.3	37%						+8%	+8%	1.8
Modern Family (R)	1.5	35%						+0%	-17%	1.8
Black-ish (R)	1.3	37%						-13%	+8%	1.6
The Untold Story of the Sound of Music	1.4	24%					n/a	+115%	+115%	1.7
							ABC:	+21%	+17%
Survivor	2.3	30%	+5%	+0.1	n/a	2/4	-8%	+8%	-3%	2.5
CSI: Cyber	1.4	22%	-18%	-0.3	+0.2	3/3	n/a	-20%	-28%	1.5
							CBS:	+0%	-10%
The Mysteries of Laura (R)	0.6	17%						-20%	-52%	1.0
Law and Order: SVU (R)	0.8	21%						+7%	-48%	1.3
Chicago PD (R)	0.9	27%						+0%	-36%	1.3
							NBC:	-4%	-45%
Empire	6.1	49%	+5%	+0.3	n/a	1/11	n/a	+160%	+184%	5.8
Empire	6.9	50%	+13%	+0.8	n/a	1/12	n/a	+19%	+200%	5.3
							Fox:	+60%	+192%
Arrow	0.9	45%	-18%	-0.2	n/a	12/16	+13%	+157%	+6%	1.0
Supernatural	0.6	44%	-25%	-0.2	-0.6	15/15	-33%	+50%	-33%	0.6
							CW:	+100%	-14%
							Big5:	+36%	+44%

KEY (click to expand)

A18-49 - Adults 18-49 rating. Percentage of US TV-owning adults 18-49 watching the program.
Skew - Percentage of adults 18-49 within the show's total viewership.
Last - A18-49 difference (percent and numerical) from the show's previous episode.
LeLa - A18-49 difference between the show's lead-in and its lead-in for the previous episode.
Rank - The A18-49 rating's rank among the show's episodes so far this season.
y2y - Percent difference between A18-49 and the show's rating a year ago.
TLa - Percent difference between A18-49 and the network's rating in the timeslot one week ago.
Ty2y - Percent difference between A18-49 and the network's rating in the timeslot one year ago.
True - A metric that adjusts the A18-49 rating for overall viewing levels, competition and lead-in. PRELIMINARY CALCULATION. For finals, see SpotVault.

(R) - Repeat.

Much more detail on these numbers at the New Daily Spotted Ratings page.

More Spotted Ratings in the Index.