Ratings: ABC’s CMA Awards Hits High Note in Demo, Viewership

Despite decreasing awards viewership across the board, ABC saw a hit in its numbers for Wednesday night’s broadcast of the 2022 Country Music Association Awards.

The network’s live broadcast was up around 10% in viewing figures from the year prior (averaging 7.6 million viewers compared to last year’s 6.8). That watching increase follows 2021’s 3.5% dip, which was readily recovered. Additionally, the special held steady in the advertising-friendly demo of 18-49 year olds, per official Nielsen figures of live plus same-day data, scoring 1.1 in the demo, same as last year.

Per the network, the 56th Annual CMA Awards ranked over its next competitor by 23% in total viewers (7.6 million vs. 6.2 million for NBC’s “Chicago Fire”) and by 43% among the demo (1.0/10 vs. 0.7/6 for CBS’ “Survivor”). The broadcast also hit a three-year high in viewership since 2019. In live stream minutes watched, the ceremony also posted a growth of 10%, from 3 million minutes to 3.3 million.

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Here’s how the rest of the broadcast networks stacked up throughout the night:

After ABC’s high note in ratings came NBC, which drew 0.6 in the demo due to its airing of the “One Chicago” franchise. Both “Chicago Med” and “Chicago Fire” averaged roughly 6 million viewers, a couple hundred thousand down from the week prior. “Chicago P.D.” also saw a slight dip in watchers from last week. The franchise itself has and is due to undergo several changes, seeing cast exits as well as the announcement that “Chicago Fire” co-creator and showrunner, as well as “One Chicago” developer, Derek Haas will depart the series.

Fox and CBS tied in ratings for third, with 0.4 in the demo. The former network aired episodes of “The Masked Singer” and “Lego Masters,” while the latter had a slate that featured “Survivor,” “The Amazing Race” and encore programming at 10 p.m. Both of CBS’ non-encore offerings saw slight percentage increases in viewership from the week prior, at 4% and 3% week over week, respectively.

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The CW came in fifth with a ratings figure of 0.1, airing installments of “DC’s Stargirl” and “Kung Fu” at 8 and 9 p.m. Neither the Nexstar-owned network nor Fox air programming at 10 p.m.

In terms of Spanish-language networks, Univision won with a 0.4 rating in the demo and 1.4 million total average viewers. “Vencer La Ausencia” started off the night at 8 p.m. and received a rating of 0.4 in the demo and a viewership of 1.4 million on average. At 9 p.m. “Los Ricos También Lloran” earned a 0.5 in the demo and 1.6 million total average viewers and “La Madrastra” closed off the night by receiving a 0.4 in ratings and 1.3 million total viewers on average.

Telemundo came in second place both in terms of rating in the demo and total average viewership, as the network saw a 0.2 rating and 843,000 average total viewers for the night. “Exatlón Estados Unidos,” which ran from 7 p.m. to 9 p.m., earned a ratings score of 0.2 and brought an average viewership of 1 million. “La Reina del Sur” came next and brought in a 0.3 rating and 884,000 total viewers on average, and “El Fuego del Destino” finished the night with a rating of 0.1 in the demo and a total viewership of 676,000 on average.

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