Free Republic

The 2020 American Music Awards delivered a big decline in rating and total viewership from last year, falling to record lows in both measurements. Last night’s awards show, which was hosted by “Empire” star Taraji P. Henson and saw Taylor Swift, The Weeknd and Dan + Shay emerge as the big winners, averaged a 0.9 rating among adults 18-49 and around 3.8 million total viewers. That represents a 50% rating decline and a 43% loss in total viewership. For comparison, last years AMAs were down only 4% on the year prior in the ratings column, and in fact gained around...

It's a widely accepted piece of TV ratings dogma that same-day numbers represent a starting point, not the complete picture for a given show. What's also true, however, is that in 2018-19, the starting point for nearly every returning broadcast series retreated from the previous season. In fact, only 10 percent (10 of 102) of veteran series increased or held steady with their same-day adults 18-49 rating from the 2017-18 season. The Hollywood Reporter's comparison includes same-day ratings for all original episodes of series that aired more than one episode in the 2018-19 season, including those coded as specials. Only...