After years of airing on broadcast television, the People’s Choice Awards shifted to cable for the 2018 edition. It also relocated from a weeknight in January to a Sunday in November, thus introducing new competition from football and “The Walking Dead.”
The change, predictably, came with a ratings decline.
According to live+same-day data posted by Showbuzz, the E! broadcast of Sunday’s ceremony drew a 0.23 adults 18-49 rating and averaged 0.58 million overall viewers.
Additional simulcasts on Bravo (0.16, 0.46 million), USA (0.13, 0.39 million) and Syfy (0.07, 0.24 million) added 0.36 in the demo and 1.09 million in average overall viewership. Data for the Universo simulcast was not available at press time, but all indications are that it drew a modest audience.
The combined 0.59 rating and 1.67 million viewer mark trail the 1.2 rating and 6.70 million audience sum posted by the 2017 show. That show aired on CBS on Wednesday, January 18, 2017.
The live+same-day performance does not, of course, tell the whole story. E! notes that this year’s show generated 3 million live streams across digital and social, while generating a total of 34 million engagements with official online content.
With over 5 million interactions across Facebook, Twitter and Instagram, the 2018 ceremony notably spurred 104% more social involvement than the 2017 edition.
Along with the award announcements, the 2018 ceremony featured performances by Nicki Minaj, Rita Ora and John Legend. Fifth Harmony and Blake Shelton performed at the 2017 show.
