The ratings for Wednesday’s (Nov. 10) Country Music Association Awards broadcast roughly held steady with 2020’s ratings, bringing in 6.83 million viewers, dipping 3.5% from 2020’s 7.08 million viewers, according to The Hollywood Reporter. At a time when awards show ratings across the board have declined in recent years, the CMA Awards’ holding power can be seen as a win.
The CMA Awards’ 18-49 demo rating held even, with a 1.12 rating, earning ABC’s top Wednesday performance rating to date during this season.
Some of the evening’s biggest winners included entertainer of the year winner Luke Combs, four-category winner Chris Stapleton, new artist of the year winner Jimmie Allen and female vocalist of the year winner Carly Pearce.
During a recent interview with Billboard, Country Music Association CEO Sarah Trahern and CMA Awards executive producer Robert Deaton addressed awards shows ratings declines in general, with Deaton saying, “Here’s the thing, everything’s down…the way each demographic decides to consume the show is different. The younger demo is going to find the performances they want to see. And so, you have to look at it overall, from beginning to end, not just the night that it airs, but +3 [days], +7 [days]. Chris Stapleton and Justin Timberlake got 100 million views [after the 2015 CMA Awards]. Nobody really talked about that. In this day and age, it’s important that people come and see the show, but it’s equally important what happens after the show.”
