Premiere Week Ratings: 'Empire' is Back and Still Powerful, 'American Horror Story' Loses Ground

Fox's Empire returned for a new season this week, and it's still the hottest scripted series on network TV. The show's season premiere scored especially well with young viewers, and it easily outdistanced all the competition on Wednesday night. A few other series had strong showings on Wednesday, too, including a couple of newcomers.

Empire's season premiere earned a 4.1 rating in the 18-49 age demographic, making it far and away the most-watched program on network TV that night among young viewers. In its time slot, it sailed past ABC's Modern Family, which was the second-highest-rated program of the night, and NBC's Law & Order: Special Victims Unit.

Earlier in the evening, the series premiere of Fox's Lethal Weapon drew a respectable audience. It earned a 2.2 rating and was the fourth-highest-rated program of the night on broadcast TV. Lethal Weapon didn't win its time slot, though; it was edged out by the season premiere of the venerable Survivor.

Later in the evening, Keifer Sutherland's new series, Designated Survivor, also had a decent debut, pulling down a 2.3 rating for ABC.

On cable, the news wasn't as bright. The season's second episode of American Horror Story was still the highest-rated cable program of the night, but the series experienced a significant ratings drop from last week's premiere episode. Episode two earned a 1.8 rating, a fall-off of more than 45 percent.