ACMs Earn Highest Evening Ratings

Kacey Musgraves, Taylor Swift.

And the winner is…the 49th Annual Academy of Country Music Awards, bringing in a peak audience tally of 14.14 million live+SD viewers for the April 6 broadcast, according to Zap2It.

Immediate ratings were down slightly from last year’s highest measure since 1998, 15.38 million viewers, up from the prior year’s 12.2 million viewers. Official numbers are forthcoming, taking into account delayed viewing, which has become increasingly important to boost total audience metrics.

Initial ratings for the three-hour CBS awards show came in at 3.3 for adults 18-49 from 8-11:00 p.m., down from last year’s 4.3 with the same demographic. CBS, which also carried 60 Minutes for the lead in, ranked No. 1 throughout the evening in viewers and adults 18-49.

Trailing networks included ABC with America’s Funniest Home Videos, Once Upon A Time, Revenge and the second-highest viewed program of the evening, Resurrection. The Simpsons, Family Guy and Cosmos: A Spacetime Odyssey helped push Fox in third place ahead of NBC.

View full winners list.

View MusicRow’s review. 

View after-party photos.