In this Tuesday, Aug. 8, 2017 file photo, Lee Daniels, co-creator of the Fox series "Empire," poses for a portrait during the 2017 Television Critics Association Summer Press Tour at the Beverly Hilton in Beverly Hills, Calif. (Photo by Ron Eshel/Invision/AP, File)
LOS ANGELES (AP) --
"Empire" co-creator and executive producer Lee Daniels says the weeks since cast member Jussie Smollett was arrested and charged with fabricating a racist and homophobic attack have been "a freakin' rollercoaster."
In an Instagram video that doesn't refer to Smollett by name, Daniels says since "the incident" he and his cast have "experienced pain and anger and sadness and frustration and really don't know how to deal with it."
Daniels had been among the first to voice his support for Smollett after he made the report in January.
Daniels says the situation nearly made him forget to tell audiences that the Fox drama returns to the air Wednesday. Daniels and other producers removed Smollett's character from the season's final episodes after his arrest in Chicago.
Josef Newgarden leads the pack into Turn 2 after the start of the IndyCar Grand Prix of St. Petersburg auto race, Sunday March 10, 2024, in St. Petersburg, Fla. (AP Photo/Mike Carlson, File)
Fox Sports' debut IndyCar race drew 1.417 million viewers and was the most watched series event aside from the Indianapolis 500 on any network since 2011.
The mark for Sunday's opener on the downtown streets of St. Petersburg was a 45% increase over last year's event, which drew 974,700 combined viewers on NBC.
The Fox Sports viewership peaked with 1,820,000 viewers from 2:15-2:26 p.m. Local market ratings will not be available until later this week.
IndyCar this season ended it's 16-year relationship with NBC Sports for a multi-year deal with Fox Sports, which has promised high-quality production and promotion that began in January with glossy commercials featuring three of the series stars that aired during NFL playoffs and the Super Bowl.
IndyCar has a close relationship with Fox Sports CEO Eric Shanks, an Indiana native with a passion for both the series and the Indianapolis 500. He has vowed to push IndyCar back to the top levels of motorsports.
Despite the heavy promotion — which was also done during NASCAR's Daytona 500 and other Fox Sports programming — Shanks acknowledged to The Associated Press "there will still be people Googling on Sunday 'What network is today's IndyCar race on,'" — something he hopes to eliminate. All 17 races and both of the Indianapolis 500 qualifying sessions will be aired on Fox Sports this year, making IndyCar the only major motorsports series to air its entire schedule on network television.
The opener on Sunday, which was a 1-2 finish for Chip Ganassi Racing with Alex Palou and Scott Dixon, was even more impressive in that NBC Sports uses the TAD (total audience delivery) metric that includes live streaming. FOX does not use TAD because it is not recognized by Nielsen Media... Read More
