The 2021 American Music Awards improved — albeit just barely — on their all-time low numbers from the previous year.
ABC’s broadcast of the show on Sunday averaged 4.04 million viewers and a 1.03 rating among adults 18-49, a hair better than the 4.01 million and 1.0 for the 2020 awards. The Nov. 10 CMA Awards had a similar performance, matching their 2020 performance in adults 18-49 and dipping slightly in viewers; for both shows, it’s an improvement on a couple years of double-digit declines in ratings.
The awards also had a big social media footprint: Per Talkwalker’s Social Content Ratings, the AMAs were the most social program on TV in the past three years (excluding presidential debates) and posted sizable year to year gains in both interactions and video views.
Elsewhere Sunday, the NFL drew its biggest audience of the season as Fox’s late afternoon broadcast (Kansas City-Dallas in most of the country) averaged 28.06 million viewers. That in turn helped The Simpsons (3.97 million viewers) draw its biggest same-day audience of the fall.
Paramount Network’s Yellowstone stayed strong with 7.42 million viewers, about even with the previous week, and added 810,000 with a simulcast on CMT. Mayor of Kingstown (2.1 million) came down a bit from the 2.7 million who watched its debut.
The American Music Awards are produced by MRC Live & Alternative, 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.
