Fox is expanding its breakout mega-hit Empire. Fox chairman and CEO Gary Newman confirmed he’s boosting Empire’s episode count in the second season to 18 episodes, versus the 12 episodes that aired during its debut season this year. Also, with Empire launching in the fall instead of midseason, the network plans to split its 18-episode second run into two halves.
The Terrence Howard-starring hip-hop drama made a record-breaking splash in its debut on Wednesday nights, defying gravity by continuing to grow with each subsequent episode. Its season finale snagged 16.7 million viewers and a 6.5 in the 18-49 demographic. Going into the upfronts, one big question was whether Fox would move Empire to Thursday nights, which is the most lucractive weekday for advertising. But doing so would also mean that Empire would likely face ABC’s own powerhouse, Scandal, at 9 p.m.
“We’d be crazy to move it,” Fox chairman and CEO Gary Newman told reporters ahead of the network’s upfront presentation on Monday morning. “We want to thank and reward our fans by keeping it in that time period… The stories we’ve heard already for season 2 will blow away the audience.”
