CMT’s 2016 Artists Of The Year special topped last year’s broadcast in the key adults 18-49 demographic.
It meanwhile suffered a year-to-year loss in total viewership.
According to live+same-day data posted by Showbuzz, Thursday’s 9-10:30PM special drew a 0.14 adults 18-49 rating and 445,000 total viewers. Last year’s broadcast posted a weaker 0.12 demo rating but reached a total live+same-day audience of 541,000.
This year’s edition, which issued awards to Shania Twain, Kelsea Ballerini, Luke Bryan, Thomas Rhett, Chris Stapleton, Florida Georgia Line and Carrie Underwood, aired against Thursday Night Football.
The last half-hour of last year’s installment, which aired from 8-9:30PM on Wednesday, December 2, 2015, faced FOX’s “Empire.”