Love it or hate it, Fox’s Empire is taking Black America by storm and the numbers prove it.
Closing its 12-episode first season with a two-hour finale Wednesday night, the Dynasty-like primetime soap about a family-owned music business is this season’s breakout show according to Nielsen.
Starting out with just nine million viewers for its pilot in January, Empire’s ratings rose every week gaining over 16 million viewers by March. Over 70 percent of African-American women between the ages of 18 and 49 who were watching TV watched the show on March 11.
It is also the first series in over 20 years to have its viewership increase week to week for its first five episodes.
Empire is Fox’s highest rated debut in three years. The drama brought back Black viewers who flocked to the network in the 1990s to its Thursday night line up consisting of Martin, Living Single and New York Undercover.
The show beat out popular Black primetime television shows including ABC’s Scandal and How to Get Away With Murder along with VH1’s Love and Hip Hop Hollywood and Bravo’s Real Housewives of Atlanta.
It was also rated the fastest-growing freshman series on the four major TV networks since 2004 narrowly beating ABC’s Dancing With the Stars.
“We explore the politics of American, race relations, homophobia, sexual intrigue,” show creator and executive producer Lee Daniels said in a previous interview with the AmNews. “[Expect] great music and [a look at] Black people with money. Hopefully we’re going to experience the Black experience of today.”
Aside from the cast, which includes Oscar nominees Terrence Howard, Taraji P. Henson and Gabourey Sidibe, the show’s music plays crucial role and is considered a character in its own right under the supervision of hip-hop producer Timbaland.
Singer Jussie Smollett and rapper Bryshere “Yazz” Gray have become breakout stars not only in their roles on the show as musical brothers but also real-life music stars.
Released on March 10, Empire: Original Soundtrack from Season 1 debuted at No. 1 on the Billboard charts beating Madonna’s new album Rebel Heart, which came in at No. 2. The show’s album is reportedly the first TV soundtrack to debut at the top spot since Glee in 2010.
Social media is also buzzing with users posting their thoughts using the hashtags #Empire and #EmpireFinale which were top trending during Wednesday night’s finale.
While the show has the attention of Black America, it also has a window of opportunity to highlight various conscious issues. During Wednesday’s finale R&B legend Patti LaBelle guest starred mentioning “Black Lives Matter” in a scene.
The show also touches on issues including the need to preserve and maintain Black businesses, homosexuality in the Black community and mental health.
Even political strategist Donna Brazile got in on the popularity of Empire tweeting during the show the need for the U.S. Senate to confirm Attorney General nominee Loretta Lynch.
However, with praise comes controversy. Critics of the show say it opens the floodgates when it comes to Black stereotypes coupled with the fact it’s on Fox, which doesn’t have the best relationship with Black America when it comes it’s news arm.
“The NAACP is going to get us,” Henson said in one interview. “Barack Obama is going to hate us!”
Professor and author Boyce Watkins said during an interview on CNN this week that the show’s storylines would be different if the actors were white and called it a “ghettofied hood drama” in a recent column.
“The ‘entertainment ghetto’ is basically the place where you have roles that are shows that are specifically designed for black people, where black actors are kind of locked into,” he said.
In the meantime, those looking to get their weekly Empire fix are going to have to wait. Reports indicate the show could return in the late fall.