ACM Awards hits record low ratings, join the ceremony slump

The Academy of County Music honors drew a record-low audience, joining other awards shows also finding dwindling viewer interest.

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.

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. Luke Bryan was crowned entertainer of the year during the event hosted by Keith Urban and Mickey Guyton.

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.

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.

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.

For the week of April 12-18, the 20 most-watched programs, their networks and viewerships:

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.