Taraji P. Henson and Terrence Howard for the Hollywood Reporter January 2015.

Taraji P. Henson and Terrence Howard for the Hollywood Reporter January 2015.
It’s been three days since Dana Walden heard the latest tracking figures for the first big test of her tenure as co-head of the Fox Television Group, and she’s anxious for an update. Empire, she informs the 16 executives seated before her and partner Gary Newman in the fifth-floor conference room of the Fox Broadcasting building, “is the priority.”
With a massive marketing push already underway, expectations for the series are rising. Its principals — co-creators Lee Daniels and Danny Strong, the celebrated team behind Lee Daniels’ The Butler, and Oscar-nominated actors Terrence Howard and Taraji P. Henson — earned it immediate credibility, and its King Lear meets The Godfather premise, about a drug dealer turned music mogul and three sons who are vying for his empire, has all the trappings of a hit. But the series, part musical, part melodrama, is by no means a sure thing. The pilot episode grapples with themes of mortality and homophobia, and the music — original tunes from Timbaland — isn’t the jukebox of familiar hits that drove Glee. The most recent data suggests the series is scoring “incredibly high” intent-to-view numbers with African-Americans, a demographic that’s helped make ABC’s Scandal a hit, but Fox TV Group COO Joe Earley tells his new bosses in early December that it’s still “a little soft” with everybody else.
If Earley is concerned, however, he’s not letting on, and neither is marketing executive Laurel Bernard, who fields Walden’s follow-up, “Any idea how the affiliates are feeling?” with an enthusiastic, “They’re tuned up and turned on.” The first single, “No Apologies,” featuring Empire’s Jussie Smollett, is scheduled to drop Dec. 15 — albums and concerts already are being discussed with partner Columbia Records — and the marketing, on par with this summer’s multimillion-dollar Gotham campaign, is heading into overdrive. There are “influencer” screenings being held throughout the country, an ad blitz planned for Fox’s NFL games, first-look specials airing on local channels and a themed light show to be staged at the Empire State Building.
This is not just another highly touted TV show. When Empire premieres Jan. 7, following the launch of American Idol’s 14th season, the country will catch its first glimpse of Newman and Walden’s plan for turning around the beleaguered broadcaster. The longtime partners — who for 15 years have churned out critically acclaimed network hits, including 24, Glee and Modern Family, as heads of studio behemoth 20th Century Fox Television — were given oversight of the Fox Broadcasting Co. in late July, and effectively anointed the saviors of the network. Though it was their predecessor, Kevin Reilly, who ordered Empire, which sources peg at roughly $3.5 million an episode after tax breaks, it was produced by their studio, and it’s representative of the bigger, bolder and, ideally, more populist direction in which they’d like to take the network.
Before long, the room turns its attention back to Empire. Walden wants to know where they are with the series’ first music video. “Will it be ready in time for New Year’s Eve?” she asks, eager to use the network’s Pitbull-hosted live show as a launch platform. “They’re trying,” she’s told, “but it’ll be tight.” The social media push? Well underway, and the barrage of cable ads aimed at Bravo’s and Lifetime’s female viewers is rolling out, too. “It will be our biggest multiplatform launch,” adds Fox’s digital chief David Wertheimer from the far corner of the conference table. “We’re going to hit people really hard with: ‘Watch it on television.’ ‘OK, you missed it on television, watch it here.’ ‘You missed it here, watch it there.’ Just get into the show, get into the show, get into the show.”
Walden lets a smile cross her face as the meeting comes to an end. “This show,” she says once more before the team disperses, “is the priority.”
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