The CMA Awards slipped to another record low Wednesday night, but the drop in viewership was nothing compared to the 2020 decline.
And hey, ABC still won primetime outright.
ABC was first in ratings with a 1.1 rating in the advertiser-coveted 18-49 demographic and in total viewers with an average of 6.6 million, according to preliminary numbers. That was all the 2021 CMAs. Last year’s Country Music Awards averaged a 1.1 rating as well, but had 6.8 million total viewers, according to the same early Nielsen data. That data was eventually adjusted in finals to 7.1 million.
While it was darn close, that’s a 3% decline in viewers, comparing apples to apples. Versus last year’s final number, this preliminary one is -7%.
NBC and Fox tied for second in ratings, both with a 0.6. NBC was second in total viewers with 6 million, Fox was fourth with 2.8 million.
For NBC, “Chicago Med” at 8 p.m. put up a 0.7 rating and 6.2 million total viewers. At 9, “Chicago Fire” drew a 0.6 rating and 6.4 million total viewers. “Chicago PD” at 10 received a 0.6 rating and 5.4 million total viewers.
On Fox, “The Masked Singer” at 8 earned a 0.9 rating and 3.8 million total viewers. At 9, “Alter Ego” had a 0.4 rating and 1.7 million total viewers.
Find out who was eliminated from last night’s “Masked Singer” episode here.
CBS was fourth in ratings with a 0.5 and third in total viewers with 3.7 million. “Survivor” at 8 landed a 0.9 rating and 5.4 million total viewers. At 9, “Tough as Nails” had a 0.4 rating and 2.7 million total viewers. “CSI: Vegas” at 10 got a 0.4 rating and 3.2 million total viewers.
The CW was fifth in ratings with a 0.1 and in total viewers with 457,000. “DC’s Legends of Tomorrow” at 8 had a 0.1 rating and 506,000 total viewers. At 9, “Batwoman” got a 0.1 rating and 407,000 total viewers.
We do not have early Nielsen ratings for Spanish-language networks Univision and Telemundo.