Isn’t this how it goes? The American Music Awards put on a good show last night on ABC, with Taylor Swift, Camilla Cabello, and Gladys Knight leading a wonderful Aretha Franklin gospel tribute.
The result: 2.5 million fewer viewers than last year. The AMAs were trounced in the 10-11 pm hour by scripted programming on the other networks. The 2.4 rating from last year fell to 1.8.
The good news is that by moving the show from November to early October, ABC actually scored much better numbers in a year-to-year comparison by date. The AMAs improved on the ABC comedy block of October 9, 2017.
Still, the decline follows all other awards shows. The AMAs last night had 6.2 million or so fans. Last year they were up to over 9 million.
It’s too bad. Aretha Franklin would have loved her tribute. The other performances were all very good, if not spectacular in any way. Taylor Swift is milking a year old release at this point. Mariah Carey was…stolid. The AMAs had no rock stars, though, and nothing that really popped. The coming Grammy Awards in February 2019 should take heed. But they should feature Lady Gaga and Bradley Cooper, Cher, and other, bigger stars.
