Fast National ratings for Wednesday, November 5, 2014.
ABC's broadcast of the 2014 CMA Awards was down only a hair from last year's strong telecast, dominating Wednesday night in all measures.
Representing one of the Top 5 most important award shows in the country music calendar, The CMAs didn't have much impact on the rest of the Wednesday competition, producing only minor deviation from recent performances.
You had “Survivor,” “The 100” and “Hell's Kitchen” posting the smallest of gains, with “Red Band Society,” “Criminal Minds” and “Stalker” going down a little. Only “Chicago PD” had a double-digit loss. “
On to the numbers…
Among adults 18-49, ABC averaged a 4.5 rating for Wednesday night, tops in the key demographic. There was a big drop to CBS' 2.0 rating in the key demo, which topped NBC's 1.4 key demo rating. FOX's 1.1 key demo rating and the 0.8 key demo rating for The CW trailed.
Overall, ABC averaged an estimated 16.145 million viewers and a 9.7 rating/16 share for Wednesday primetime. CBS was a distant second with 8.7 million viewers and a 5.4/9, comfortably topping NBC's 6.92 million and 4.6/7. FOX averaged 3.25 million viewers and a 2.0/3, beating the 2.17 million viewers and 1.4/2 for The CW.
8 p.m. – ABC's primetime sweep started in the 8 p.m. hour with 16.97 million viewers and 4.6 rating among adults 18-49 for the CMA telecast. CBS' “Survivor” averaged 9.19 million viewers and a 2.3 key demo rating for second. NBC's “The Mysteries of Laura” was third with 7.76 million viewers and fourth with a 1.2 key demo rating, compared to the 3.62 million viewers and 1.3 key demo rating for FOX's “Hell's Kitchen.” On The CW, “Arrow” averaged a sturdy 2.62 million viewers and a 1.0 key demo rating in fifth.
9 p.m. – The second hour of the CMA Awards averaged 16.805 million viewers and rose to a 4.8 rating among adults 18-49 for ABC. CBS' “Criminal Minds” was down a little from last week with 9.63 million viewers and a 2.1 key demo rating in second. NBC's “Law & Order: Special Victims Unit” averaged 6.91 million viewers and a 1.6 key demo rating for a comfortable third. There was a big drop to the 2.87 million viewers and 0.9 key demo rating for FOX's “Red Band Society,” followed by the 1.715 million viewers and 0.6 key demo rating for The CW's “The 100.”
10 p.m. – The CMAs slipped to 14.66 million viewers and a 4.1 rating among adults 18-49 for ABC in the 10 p.m. hour, still winning handily. CBS' “Stalker” averaged 7.28 million viewers and a 1.5 key demo rating, topping the 6.1 million viewers and 1.3 key demo rating for NBC's “Chicago PD.”
All ratings information comes from preliminary Fast National Nielsen data, which includes live and same-day DVR viewing. All numbers are subject to change.