RATINGS RAT RACE: ‘iHeartRadio Music Awards’ Debuts Soft, ‘Grey’s Anatomy’ Rises, ‘Bad Teacher’ Falls, ‘Idol’, ‘Vampire Diaries’ & ‘Black Box’ Down
Between the inaugural iHeartRadio Music Awards (5.4 million viewers, 1.7/5 rating in adults 18-49) on NBC and American Idol (1.5/5) on Fox, there was a lot of music on TV last night. There was also a lot of Jennifer Lopez and a ton of Ryan Seacrest as the Idol judge and host did double-duty with appearances on both shows. Of course, the fact that Seacrest’s company was also co-producing the live three-hour awards ceremony with Clear Channel — one of his other employers along with NBCUniversal — probably fueled Seacrest’s rush over to the Shrine Auditorium to hand Rihanna the Artist of the Year award with J-Lo. Still, for a show simulcast on 150 radio stations across the country and performances from new Voice coach Pharrell Williams and Acrade Fire among others, the iMAs was far behind the 9.9/25 rating and 28.50 million viewers this year’s Grammys drew in late January. The debut of the newest music awards show on NBC was also well behind the 2013 Billboard Awards, which pulled in a 3.5/10 rating among adults 18-49 with 9.48 million viewers overall on May 19 (a Sunday) last year. This year’s Billboard Music Awards is set to air live on ABC on May 18. No word when the next iMA is.
Related: NBC’s iHeartRadio Music Awards Hit With Trademark Infringement Lawsuit