UPDATE Thursday 9:30am PT: The finale’s ratings didn’t disappoint, ending on a series high 16.5 million viewers, a 10 percent jump from last week’s previous record of 14.9 million. Viewers also sent 2.4 million tweets during the finale, another series record.

ORIGINAL: Empire passed the baton to Wayward Pines Wednesday night, with Fox hoping the two-hour season finale of its ratings juggernaut could give a nice promotional lift to the upcoming event series produced by M. Night Shyalaman.

As expected, Fox used Empire’s limited commercial interruptions to promote several shows on its slate. But it was Wayward Pines—which features Empire’s Terrance Howard in a supporting role—that got the plum position immediately after the finale faded to black. (Technically, there was an oh-so-brief teaser for a viewer sweepstakes in between).

The promo wasn’t new—Fox released it last month— but the Empire finale provided an opportunity to maximize the impact of the creative. The network seemed to be getting the reaction they were looking for on social media after Wednesday’s airing

Just in case anyone missed the on-air spot, Fox used Twitter to drive the message home:

Those final seconds were packed with even more promos, with Fox squeezing in two additional spots before rolling the Empire credits: a new teaser for Ryan Murphy’s upcoming fall series Scream Queens, and an American Idol spot touting the Top 10 and a live performance by Jennifer Lopez.

The Scream Queens spot features star Keke Palmer, and appears to be the second in what will be a series of teasers; Fox released a very similar piece showing Emma Roberts in February.

And while Wayward Pines got that prominent pre-credits placement, American Idol was clearly another priority for Fox on Wednesday night.

Viewers had seen no fewer than five Idol promos by the time Empire‘s credits finally rolled, more than any other Fox series.

Last Man on Earth and the upcoming Weird Loners both got a pair of promos Wednesday night, while cable sibling FX debuted a new spot for the second season of Tyrant (Alas, that promo was not available online late Wednesday).

But the award for the most eyebrow-raising promo seen during the Empire finale definitely went to someone outside the Fox corporate family.

That honor goes to Starz and its original series Power, which is executive produced by actor and rapper Curtis “50 Cent” Jackson.

Earlier on Wednesday, Starz unveiled a premiere date and new key art for Power‘s second season, so it’s to be expected they would want to run some on-air promos to spread the word.

But what was unexpected: running one of those promos on Fox.

After all, it has been largely forgotten in the wake of Empire’s phenomenal success, but at one point before its debut, a minor tiff erupted between Team Empire and Team Power.

It started when Jackson accused Fox of ripping off Power’s look and marketing. A Twitter skirmish ensued. Taraji P. Henson mounted a spirited defense of her Empire, and fired back at the rapper with a few choice words, including “I pay attention to $’s NOT cents.”

By the time the TCA press tour rolled into town, both sides were playing nice and laughing it all off in public.

Which brings us back to that Power promo that aired on the biggest night of Empire‘s breakout season.

Its on-screen message: “Empires are Built on Power,” (which should be noted is not used in other marketing for the series).

The promo editors also chose episodic footage that features some rather interesting dialogue, given the backstory, including:

-“Ain’t no friends out here on these streets.”

-“I’m gonna take it from you. All of it.”

-“It only starts a war if they know you did it.”

The spot ends with one character declaring “We ain’t your enemies; we’re your friends,” before the other responds “I don’t believe you.”

Starz would certainly be in good company if Wednesday was, indeed, a sneak attack.

The CW ran a promo during ABC Family’s Pretty Little Liars that suggested viewers change the channel to watch The Originals.

Which prompted this response from ABC Family:

For the record: Power returns to Starz on June 6 at 9 p.m. ET/PT.

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