Primetime Ratings: 'Billboard Music Awards' Down, But ABC Still Wins

ABC was the big winner among broadcasters Sunday, doing a 2.0 rating in adults 18-49 in prime, per Nielsen’s overnights, and an 8 share. America’s Funniest Home Videos ticked up 10% to 1.1, while the Billboard Music Awards did a 2.3, with 7.74 million viewers. Last year’s Billboard Music Awards did a 3.1, with 9.6 million total viewers. 

Despite the decrease, everyone else was playing for scraps. Fox and NBC each had a 0.8/3. On Fox, Bob’s Burgers was down 22% at 0.7, and The Simpsons fell 10% to 0.9. Making History was a flat 0.6 and a double run of Family Guy rated a 1.0, down 17%. 

On NBC, Dateline scored a 0.9 and two episodes of Shades of Blue, including the season finale, a 0.7. Shades did a 0.9 last week.

CBS had a 0.7/3. 60 Minutes had a 0.8 across two hours, off 20% from last week. The Madam Secretary finale rated a flat 0.7 while the Elementary season closer did a 0.5, down a tenth of a point. 

On the Spanish-language networks, Univision had a 0.4/2 and Telemundo a 0.4/1. 

Michael Malone

Michael Malone, senior content producer at B+C/Multichannel News, covers network programming, including entertainment, news and sports on broadcast, cable and streaming; and local broadcast television. He hosts the podcasts Busted Pilot, about what’s new in television, and Series Business, a chat with the creator of a new program, and writes the column “The Watchman.” He joined B+C in 2005. His journalism has also appeared in The New York Times, The Philadelphia Inquirer, Playboy and New York magazine.