TV Ratings: ACM Awards Joins the Slump Club

The Academy of County Music honors drew a record-low audience, joining other awards shows also finding dwindling viewer interest, The Associated Press reports citing Nielsen data.

Ceremony ratings generally have slid in recent years and the trend has continued during the pandemic, with the recent Grammys and Golden Globes among those nosediving.  Next up to be tested: the Academy Awards, airing Sunday on ABC (8 p.m. EDT).

The ACM Awards drew just under 6.3 million viewers last Sunday, compared to the 6.6 million that watched in 2020, according to Nielsen figures released Tuesday.

An episode of “60 Minutes,” with a segment on the far-right Oath Keepers militia group, was the week’s most-watched TV program. Members of the group are being investigated in connection with the U.S. Capitol insurrection, with one having pled guilty to federal charges.

The news magazine and the ACM Awards — which ranked among last week’s top five programs despite the ceremony’s slump — were both on CBS and helped lead the network to a weekly ratings victory.

CBS averaged 4.45 million viewers, followed by ABC with 3.6 million. NBC had 3.1 million, Fox had 2 million, Univision had 1.4 million, Telemundo had 1.07 million, ION had 1.05 million and the CW had 710,000.

➤Top 20 Prime-Time Shows (Total Viewers):

1. “60 Minutes,” CBS, 8.48 million.

2. “Young Sheldon,” CBS, 7.46 million.

3. “Blue Bloods,” CBS, 6.83 million.

4. ACM Awards, CBS, 6.28 million.

5. “The Voice,” NBC, 5.83 million.

6. “Magnum P.I.,” CBS, 5.58 million.

7. “NCIS,” CBS, 5.56 million.

8. “United States of Al,” CBS, 5.45 million.

9. “American Idol” (Sunday), ABC, 5.44 million.

10. “American Idol” (Monday), ABC, 5.39 million.

11. “Mom,” CBS, 5.35 million.

12. “The Masked Singer,” Fox, 5.17 million.

13. “Bull,” CBS, 5.12 million.

14. “Station 19,” ABC, 5.1 million.

15. “Grey’s Anatomy,” ABC, 4.98 million.

16. “The Neighborhood,” CBS, 4.95 million.

17. “This Is Us,” NBC, 4.81 million.

18. “Bob Hearts Abishola,” CBS, 4.74 million.

19. “Law & Order: SVU,” NBC, 4.73 million.

20. “Law & Order: Organized Crime,” NBC, 4.41 million.

ABC’s “World News Tonight” topped the evening news ratings contest, averaging 8.3 million viewers last week. NBC’s “Nightly News” had 6.9 million and the “CBS Evening News” had 5.2 million.

Fox News Channel led the cable networks, averaging 2.23 million viewers in prime time. MSNBC had 1.48 million, HGTV had 1.36 million, CNN had 1.05 million and TBS had 947,000.

Meanwhile, The Wrap reports Fox News beat out cable competitors CNN and MSNBC in coverage of Prince Philip’s funeral Saturday. Anchor Martha MacCallum helmed the three-hour coverage block.

From 9 a.m. ET to 12 p.m. ET, Fox News’ special coverage of the Duke of Edinburgh’s funeral brought in 2.3 million total viewers, on average, according to early Nielsen Media Research ratings data. Of those, 365,000 were in the advertiser-coveted age demographic of 25 to 54.

By comparison, CNN took in 1.8 million total average viewers at that time, with 359,000 in the key demo. MSNBC was in third place by both measures, nabbing a total of 1.2 million viewers on average, of whom 159,000 were in the demo.