"Empire" season 2 ratings is not as ideal as it was in its first season.
The sophomore run of the Fox musical drama garnered 16.18 million viewers in its first episode. However, it's downhill from there for the TV series starring Terrence Howard and Taraji P. Henson as week-per-week, they suffer from season low viewership.
The show, created by Lee Daniels and Danny Strong, is a mega hit since it debut in its first season. It broke records week per week.
To sustain the strong viewership, the show bulked up its "Empire" season 2 cast line up by enlisting big names both from movie and music industry.
From 16.18 million in its first week, "Empire" season 2 ratings is now at 11.20 million on its latest episode called "True Love Never." With this decline, will the hip-hop show get canceled?
There are no words yet from the network but critics think it is unlikely for Fox to cancel its bread and butter. Complex, a website dedicated on hip-hop and pop culture, thinks "Empire" season 2 ratings dip will not exactly factor to the show's survival.
"Empire will likely never again reach the heights of March 2015, but that's okay," Complex wrote.
"It's unlikely that any show, ever again, will be able to gain viewers every week for six weeks, while also becoming the highest rated scripted show on TV. Its current dip, then, must be judged relative to the rest of television, not to its past performance. Until the show dips below a 2.0, there's no need to be too worried that the Lyons are close to extinction."
The problem though is that Fox has already made a move that won't help Empire's rating performance. Just last week, the network released its mid-season schedule and it includes the musical drama taking a three-month break after the airing of its mid-season finale.
Will "Empire" season 2 ratings improve again?
Show returns next week for episode called "My Bad Parts" and will air its mid-season finale titled "Et Tu Brute" on Dec. 2.
