Diddy & Khaled at the iHeart Awards | Kevin Mazur/Getty Images for iHeartMedia
The 2017 iHeartRadio Music Awards ceremony enjoyed a year-over-year gain in adults 18-49 and overall viewership.
This year’s show gave those gains back — and then some.
According to live+same-day data posted by Showbuzz, Sunday’s initial airing drew a combined 0.72 rating and 1.69 million in overall viewership across TNT, TBS and TruTV**.
Last year’s ceremony drew a 1.15 rating and 2.86 million viewers across the three networks. The 2016 edition, which was the first to air on cable, drew a 0.88 rating and 2.12 million.
From a live+same-day standpoint, the 2018 edition therefore ranks as the least-watched installment yet.
While this year’s broadcast faced competition from the premiere of ABC’s “American Idol” and FOX’s “OJ Simpson: The Lost Confession?” special (in addition to AMC’s “The Walking Dead” in its second hour), the previous two iterations did not exactly air on “off-nights.”
The 2017 show faced “Little Big Shots” (comparable ratings to “Idol”) in the 8PM hour and a markedly higher-rated edition of “The Walking Dead” in the 9PM hour. The 2016 ceremony faced a dramatically higher-rated installment of “The Walking Dead” and the ACM Awards.
Despite featuring big-name performances and appearances, the iHeartRadio Music Awards ceremony has never clicked from a ratings standpoint. The first two editions drew modest ratings on NBC, and the three most recent ceremonies have drawn small audiences across the three Turner Networks.
The show does generate some web and social buzz. A TV draw is it is not, however.
**Note: In terms of a specific breakdown, the TNT airing drew a 0.32 rating and 0.77 million (versus 0.57/1.42 million last year), the TBS version drew a 0.28 and 0.66 million (versus 0.43/1.12 million last year) and the Tru iteration posted a 0.12 and 0.27 million (versus 0.15/0.32 million last year).