ACM Awards Ratings Slip, But Still Top Sunday Night’s Programming

CBS’ coverage of Sunday night’s ACM Awards saw its ratings at the top of all broadcast for the evening with a rating of 0.8 in the adults 18-49 demographic, drawing nearly 6.08 million viewers and beating out 60 Minutes (.06 rating; 8.17 million viewers) and American Idol (0.7 rating; 4.64 million viewers), according to Deadline.

Though topping all programs on Sunday night, the annual award show’s ratings were at an all-time low. Last year’s show drew in 6.60 million viewers and garnered a rating of 1.0, which was down from 2019’s ACM Awards which drew 9.9 million viewers (and a 1.6 rating in the 18-49 demo).

The ACM Awards featured performances from Miranda Lambert, Luke Combs, Chris Stapleton and more at some of Nashville’s most legendary venues: Grand Ole Opry House, Nashville’s historic Ryman Auditorium, The Bluebird Cafe, Broadway, Riverfront and the Station Inn.. American Idol judge Luke Bryan also walked away with the prestigious Entertainer of the Year award.

On social media, the show led as the No. 1 trend on Twitter and drove more than 9.7 billion potential impressions. The 2021 Awards were the most social ACM Awards of the last few years, beating the 2020 ACM Awards (4.1 billion) last September and the 2019 ACM Awards (3.8B billion) on April 7, 2019. Last night, the ACM Awards trended within the top 10 in the US on Twitter—#ACMAwards trended for 9 hours and peaked at No. 1 according to NetBase.