CMA Awards ratings climb for Swift-fest

UPDATED: ABC's annual presentation of the CMA Awards drew stellar numbers Wednesday night.

The Taylor Swift lovefest drew 17.2 million viewers and a 5.3 rating among adults 18-49. That's 26% higher than the Emmys this year and up slightly from last year's CMAs. ABC won the night, its three-hour telecast leading every timeslot with the network's biggest non-sports Wednesday audience in more than four years.

During the CMAs, the 19-year-old Swift took home four awards and became the youngest person ever to win the night's top honor -- entertainer of the year.

Some broadcast shows took a hit against the increased competition, but not "CSI: NY."

While Monday's "CSI: Miami" didn't see much of a boost from this week's franchise crossover stunt, last night's "CSI: NY" (14.5 million, 3.8) was a whopping 36% from last week and marked the show's strongest performance since its season debut.

CBS was in second place for the night in the demo and -- for once -- total viewers as well. "Old Christine" (7.2 million, 2.1)  and "Gary Unmarried" (7.3 million, 2.4) were up 5% and 20%, respectively. For both comedies, this was their best performance in more than a year (presumably due to ABC airing the CMAs instead of sitcoms this week). "Criminal Minds" (12.8 million, 3.3) was on par.

Returning to Wednesday after a couple weeks of baseball, Fox's "So You Think You Can Dance" (5.7 million, 2.2) was down 15% against the CMAs, while "Glee" (7.5 million, 3.3) managed to rise a notch.

NBC's "Mercy" (6.7 million, 1.7) was flat and "Law & Order: SVU" (8.8 million, 2.8) climbed a healthy 17% to match its season high. "Jay Leno Show" (4.7 million, 1.4) held fast. 

On the CW, "America's Next Top Model" (3.2 million, 1.5) slipped a bit.