Country stars are giving ABC a big ratings boost. Wednesday's broadcast of the 44th annual CMA Awards won the night for the network, taking first place in all six half-hours of the event's primetime broadcast and ranking first across all key demographics. The CMA Awards viewership outpaced the second place CBS by nearly six-million viewers, and the ceremony drew a significantly higher percentage of adults under the age of 50. In addition, the last hour of the country music awards show logged the highest number of adults age 18 to 49 of any network so far this season for a non-sports broadcast. ABC estimates that 33-point-eight-million people tuned in for at least some of the three-hour CMA event.
Brad Paisley earned the CMA's top prize of Entertainer of the Year, while Miranda Lambert took home the most trophies. The performance-heavy show included such superstars as Kenny Chesney, Taylor Swift, Carrie Underwood, and Lady Antebellum, while Vince Gill backed actress Gwyneth Paltrow in her live country music performance debut.
