Featuring its 3-hour telecast of “The 53rd Annual CMA Awards,” ABC dominated Wednesday night, ranking #1 all 6 half-hours of primetime with Total Viewers and Adults 18-49. ABC beat its nearest competition by 4.3 million viewers (11.3 million vs. 7.0 million – NBC) and by 82% in Adults 18-49 (2.0/9 vs. 1.1/5 – Fox).
Hitting new season highs on the night, ABC drew its largest Wednesday audience in 2 years and delivered its highest Adult 18-49 rating on the night in 1 year with entertainment programming – since 11/8/17 and 11/14/18, respectively.
- ABC’s CMA Awards stood as Wednesday’s definitive #1 TV program, beating runners-up Fox’s The Masked Singer by 25% among Adults 18-49 (2.0/9 vs. 1.6/8) and NBC’s Chicago Med by 3.9 million Total Viewers (11.3 million vs. 7.4 million. In fact, ABC’s CMA Awards marked the first program this season to outdeliver The Masked Singer to rank as Wednesday’s highest-rated show in Adults 18-49.
- This year’s broadcast of the CMA Awards grew over the prior year’s telecast (10.1 million and 2.0/9 on 11/14/18) by 12% in Total Viewers and held steady in Adults 18-49 (coming within 1-tenth of a rating point).
Additionally, the CMA Awards was the #1 most social entertainment program across broadcast and cable last night, with 2.4M total social interactions across Instagram (43%), Facebook (33%), and Twitter (25%), +104% over the 2018 telecast, as measured by Nielsen Social.
For the first time ever, CMA was able to post select full performance videos on Facebook and Twitter, with views nearing 6.7 million since last night. In the first 12 hours, VEVO views are up 41% year-over-year. Social reach across Facebook, Instagram, Twitter and YouTube on Wednesday was up 36.7% year-over-year, from 2.8 billion to 3.9 billion, as measured by Sprinklr.
“The 53rd Annual CMA Awards,” hosted by Carrie Underwood with special guest hosts Reba McEntire and Dolly Parton, celebrated the legacy of women in Country with riveting performances, heartfelt speeches and poignant tributes. Luke Combs and Kacey Musgraves were the night’s big winners, each receiving two wins. Watch full-length performances now on CMA’s YouTube Channel.
