For the second time in less than a year, the ACM Awards hit all-time ratings lows — in keeping with a trend that has seen awards shows suffer sizable audience losses.
CBS’ telecast Sunday averaged 6.28 million viewers and a 0.82 rating among adults 18-49, down from the previous low — set by the pandemic-delayed 2020 ceremony — of 6.82 million and 1.1. The ACM awards are in keeping with lows for the Golden Globes, Grammy Awards, CMA Awards and others in the past year.
On the upside for CBS, the ACM Awards did outdraw the combined viewer total for the other four English-language broadcast networks in primetime. At 7 p.m., 60 Minutes drew the biggest total audience of the night (8.48 million viewers) along with a 0.62 in the 18-49 demographic.
ABC’s American Idol finished a close second to the ACM Awards with a 0.76 in the key ad demo, on par with the previous week, and 5.44 million viewers. The Rookie (0.46, 3.81 million) improved slightly.
Zoey’s Extraordinary Playlist (0.26 in 18-49, 1.2 million viewers) declined a little bit on NBC, but Good Girls (0.37, 1.51 million) ticked up in the demo and was steady in viewers.
On cable, HBO’s limited series Mare of Easttown debuted to 1 million cross-platform viewers, the network said, with 600,000 of those watching the on-air debut. That’s on par with the most recent season premiere of Succession and the series debut of Euphoria, both in 2019. Week two of The Nevers had a linear audience of 561,000, slightly above its premiere; cross-platform figures weren’t immediately available.
TLC’s 90 Day Fiancé: Tell All was the top show on cable in primetime in both adults 18-49 (0.67 rating) and total viewers (2.37 million).
The ACM Awards is produced by Dick Clark Productions, a division of MRC, which is a co-owner of The Hollywood Reporter through a joint venture with Penske Media titled P-MRC.
Bookmark THR.com/Ratings for more ratings news and numbers.
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