The critically acclaimed show Empire has become a huge success for FOX. In its first season the show had a record breaking 13 consecutive weeks of ratings growth. The record came to an end when the second season premiered on September 23. According to USA Today, Empire's same-day viewership has dropped by more than 5 million viewers since the season 1 finale.
It is uncertain why the ratings have dropped week to week, but many speculate that it does not compare to the first season. Also the many guest appearances each week have distracted from the main plot of the season. In the first few shows that have already aired there have already been numerous guest appearances from Neyo, Ludacris, Kelly Rowland, Chris Rock, Pitbull, and numerous others. Another reason people have started to become uninterested with the show because the show's plot is a bit all over the place and it is unclear after four episodes where the season is going. According to the site independent.co.uk, rapper 50 Cent blames the ratings drop on too much "gay stuff" because one of the main characters on the show, Jamal Lyon played by Jussie Smollett, is a openly gay singer on the show. The show's creator Lee Daniels stated that he was disappointed that gay storylines do not test well with audiences.
Even with the drop in ratings Empire is still one of the biggest television shows on television averaging 16.7 million viewers. Also it still is the number 1 show with the young adult crowd nearly doubling the numbers of ABC's Scandal and new hit show Blindspot according to USA Today.
We can speculate on a lot of reasons that the show have had its ratings dropped but it still has given Fox its best ratings in years. The biggest question that everyone is asking is whether the shows ratings will rise back up or continue to fall? Only time will tell if there will be a downfall of the Empire.
Links:
http://www.usatoday.com/story/life/tv/2015/10/20/has-foxs-hot-empire-started-cool/74236678/
http://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/tv/news/50-cent-blames-empire-season-2-ratings-drop-on-too-much-gay-stuff-a6679641.html
http://www.enstarz.com/articles/114862/20151021/empire-tv-show-ratings-still-on-the-decline-for-fox-series.htm
http://www.ibtimes.co.uk/empire-season-2-50-cent-blames-ratings-drop-gay-stuff-1522560
