Empire renewed for Season 4: FOX at the TCA, part 1

Taraji P. Henson as Cookie Lyon in Empire

Fox began its day of presentations at the Television Critics of America (TCA) conference in Pasadena with a flurry of announcements, one of which being that the network has taken the early step of renewing its hit soap Empire for a fourth season, ahead of the network's full fall schedule announcement in May.

Although Empire's ratings have fallen from their meteoric levels in season 1, the Fox press release brags that the show ranks as the #1 broadcast drama in Adults 18-49 for the third consecutive season, and is the #1 broadcast entertainment program among Adults 18-49, teens and young women.  And on a multi-platform basis, Empire averages almost 16 million total viewers this season, up 82% from its live+same day numbers.

A few hours later, Empire creator Lee Daniels appeared on the stage, along with the cast of his latest creation, Star.  And so Daniels will be quite a busy man if Fox proceeds with a possible Empire spinoff, which was announced in the press back in August.

After Empire's fall finale, Star has been occuping the show's Wednesdays at 9 time slot.  After Star finishes its own run, Empire will return for its spring premiere on Wednesday, March 22.