Big Ratings Boost For This Year's ACM Awards

Last night’s “Academy of Country Music Awards” on CBS aired more than a month earlier than it did last year, and that led to significant ratings increases among both viewers 18-49 and total viewers, according to Nielsen overnights.

The award ceremony averaged 14.8 million total viewers over its three hours last night, up 26 percent from last year’s 11.7 million. The 44th annual event also averaged a 3.8 overnight rating among 18-49s, a 31 percent boost over last year’s 2.9.

The reason for the significant increases was diminished competition on the other networks. Last year’s “Country Music Awards” aired at the height of May sweeps against the season finales of “Extreme Makeover: Home Edition” and “Desperate Housewives” on ABC and “The Simpsons” and “King of the Hill” on Fox.

By contrast, last night the special aired against mostly reruns on ABC and Fox, the night's strongest performers, outside of an original “Simpsons” from 8 to 8:30.The awards show led CBS to first place among 18-49s last night with a 3.3 average overnight rating and a 9 share. The network also averaged 14.1 million total viewers for the night, more than 8 million viewers better than No. 2 ABC.