The return of Fox’s Empire on Wednesday night reminded everyone what a real hit looks like, playing almost like an NFL game with 16.2 million viewers and a 6.7 among adults 18-49, according to Nielsen’s national overnight ratings. When delayed viewing is factored in, that number is expected to soar to some 20 million.

That dwarfed everything else on the air. The only new series to premiere was Fox’s Rosewood, which led into Empire with 8+ million viewers and a solid 2.4 in adults 18-49 across the 8 p.m. hour.

Vulture’s Joe Adalian pointed out on Twitter that Empire’s season-two opener ranks right up there with other big Fox hits: season 2 of American Idol debuted with 26.5 million viewers, season 2 of House premiered with 15.9 million viewers and season 2 of Glee launched with 12.5 million viewers. And keep in mind that all of those shows aired in a time when on-demand viewing wasn’t the norm like it is today.

Far behind in second place was CBS with 8+ million viewers across the night and a 2.3 average in adults 18-49 with its all-reality line-up of Survivor: Cambodia, which debuted its season with an hour and a half premiere, followed by Big Brother, a holdover from the summer.

ABC returned its comedy line-up from 8- 0 pm, followed by the season 4 premiere of Nashville at 10 p.m. Modern Family, while not as dominant as it once was, led the line up with 9.3 million viewers and a 3.1 among adults 18-49, the second-highest rated show of the night behind Empire.

The Middle led off with 8.2 million viewers and a 2.1 among adults 18-49, followed by The Goldbergs, which dropped from The Middle‘s lead-in to 7.6 million viewers but rose among adults 18-49 to a 2.4. The season 2 premiere of black-ish finished off the comedy block at 9:30 pm with a 7.3 million viewers and a 2.4 in the demo. Nashville, which always has been a delayed-viewing performer, as most 10 pm dramas are, turned in 4.9 million viewers and a 1.2 among adults 18-49.

NBC had a so-so night with the season 2 return of The Mysteries of Laura (also known as the Mysteries of Why This Show Was Renewed) to 7.1 million viewers and a 1.2 among adults 18-49 at 8 pm. A double-run of Law and Order: SVU followed, averaging 8.3 million viewers and a 1.8 in the demo.

While Monday and Tuesday looked a little bleak for Fox, nothing else matters now that Empire is back. One megahit can cover a lot of sins.

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