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Ratings: 2020 BET Awards Ceremony Nearly Matches 2019 Show, Which Aired On More Networks

Though the 2020 edition aired on CBS.

Based on preliminary ratings data from BET, the 2020 BET Awards nearly matched the viewership performance of last year’s broadcast.

This year’s show drew 3.7 million viewers; last year’s show reached just under 3.8 million.

The comparisons are not, however, apples-to-apples. Whereas last year’s show aired across eight Viacom cable networks (BET, BET Her, MTV, MTV2, MTV Classic, VH1, TV Land, and Logo), this year’s broadcast aired only on BET, BET Her, and CBS.

Granted, as a major broadcast network, the CBS airing is certainly more valuable than any (if not all) of last year’s cable simulcasts.

According to BET, the show drew 1.9 million viewers on CBS, 1.6 million on BET, and about 200K on BET Her. Last year’s home BET edition reached 2.4 million viewers.

As another point of year-over-year difference, this year’s show aired with recognition for social distancing – and thus did not include a live theater component.

Brian Cantor

Brian Cantor is the editor-in-chief for Headline Planet. He has been a leading reporter in the music, movie, television and sporting spaces since 2002. Brian's reporting has been cited by major websites like BuzzFeed, Billboard, the New Yorker and The Fader -- and shared by celebrities like Taylor Swift, Justin Bieber and Nicki Minaj. Contact Brian at brian.cantor[at]headlineplanet.com.

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