CMA Music Festival TV Special Slips In Ratings

Reigning CMA Vocal Group of the Year Little Big Town returns to host CMA Music Festival: Country’s Night to Rock for the third year. The special aired Tuesday, Aug. 4 on the ABC Television Network. Photo: Hunter Berry / CMA

Last night’s (Aug. 4) CMA Music Festival: Country’s Night to Rock averaged a 1.2/4 rating among adult viewers age 18-49, down from last year’s 1.9/6 adults 18-49 rating, according to initial numbers reported by Zap2It.

CMA Music Festival: Country’s Night to Rock averaged 5.19 million viewers, down from 7.2 million viewers in 2014. This year’s country show had competition from NBC’s America’s Got Talent in the 7 p.m. CT time slot.

Although the rating fell this year (down 37 percent), the ABC show did rank strongly for the evening at No. 2 among adults 18-49 and garnered increased viewership throughout the three-hour program from its first hour to its final hour by 30 percent (1.0/4 to 1.3/5).

Likewise, ABC delivered its strongest non-sports Tuesday this summer with the CMA broadcast in both viewers (1.9 million) and young adults (1.2/4).

DVR viewership, which has gone from 38 percent penetration in U.S. households five years ago to 49 percent, will be taken into account for Nielsen’s live + 7 day ratings.

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Sherod Robertson

Sherod Robertson is President and Owner of MusicRow Enterprises. He oversees all operations and develops strategic initiatives for MusicRow magazine, RowFax, and MusicRow's CountryBreakout chart. Robertson previously served as Director of Finance of Arista Records after beginning his career as Vice President of Finance and CFO at Reunion Records.

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