I live in a pretty diverse area and TBH... I don’t know one white person (adult or teen) that watches Empire. I thought it was pretty much a black viewed tv show. Not making a rude comment but I just figured that the majority of white folks watch some shows and black folks watch others.
I’m an old, white, man and I watched it the first season, thought it was great. It had top notch talent, was well produced, very entertaining drama. Then they started telling me how to think and what to think by pushing a social agenda and screwed up a really good show.
Taraji Henson and Terrence Howard are great talents and deserve a better vehicle than what this show is becoming.
I’ve never believed the ratings that were being reported. Since the beginning, I’ve thought the hype was a bit of affirmative-action myth making. I don’t know anyone who’s ever watched a single episode (I’ve asked around), never heard it discussed at work or any social gathering, never seen a single post referencing it in any of my social media feeds. And I hear a lot of conversation about television.
But I believe part of that is lower adoption of online, streaming TV by African-Americans and their lagging preference for basic cable.
It is not as broadly popular a show as the media coverage implies.