Ratings: ‘American Idol’ Barely Edges Out CMT Music Awards in Demo, but CBS Wins the Night

The CMT Music Awards aired on broadcast TV for the first time Monday night, impressively drawing more than 5 million total viewers across primetime. That made it fairly easy for CBS to secure the top ratings spot for networks.

“American Idol” performed strongly as well, securing a higher rating than the CMT Awards for the 8 p.m. to 10 p.m. hours. The long-running ABC series scored a 0.68 to the CMT Awards’ 0.67.

Both Fox and The CW were back with new offerings this week, after a night of reairs last Monday.

CBS — which aired the CMT Music Awards from 8 p.m. to 11 p.m. — was first in ratings among the major networks with a 0.67 rating in the advertiser-coveted 18-49 demographic and in total viewers with an average of 5.3 million, according to official numbers.

ABC was second in ratings with a 0.59 and in total viewers with 4.9 million. “American Idol” scored a 0.68 rating and 5.3 million total viewers at 8 p.m. At 10, “The Good Doctor” drew a 0.39 rating and 4 million total viewers.

Fox was third in ratings with a 0.54 and in total viewers with 4.7 million. “9-1-1” aired to a 0.62 rating and 5.1 million total viewers at 8 p.m. At 9, “911: Lone Star” got a 0.45 rating and 4.2 million total viewers.

NBC was fourth in ratings with a 0.26 and in total viewers with 1.5 million. “American Song Contest” earned a 0.28 rating and 1.4 million total viewers at 8 p.m. At 10, “Endgame” got a 0.21 rating and 1.5 million total viewers.

The CW was fifth in ratings with a 0.08 and in total viewers with 398,000. “All American” had a 0.1 rating and 467,000 total viewers at 8 p.m. At 9, “All American: Homecoming” secured a 0.07 rating and 329,000 total viewers.

Among the Spanish-language networks, Univision was first in ratings with a 0.5 and in total viewers with 1.7 million. “Soltero Con Hijas” earned a 0.5 rating and 1.5 million total viewers at 8 p.m. At 9, “Mi Fortuna Es Amarte” had a 0.5 rating and 1.6 million total viewers. At 10, “Madre” received a 0.5 rating and 1.9 million total viewers.

Telemundo was second in ratings with a 0.2 and in total viewers with 904,000. “Exatlón,” which began at 7 p.m., had a 0.2 rating and 869,000 total viewers. “Hercai: Amor y Venganza” got a 0.2 rating and 1.2 million viewers at 9. At 10, “Pasión de Gavilanes” received a 0.2 rating and 633,000 total viewers.