ABC's BILLBOARD MUSIC AWARDS Is Sunday's No. 1 Broadcast Program

With the season finale of "America's Funniest Home Videos" and the "2016 Billboard Music Awards," ABC won the final Sunday of the season/May Sweep by 36% over runner-up CBS in Total Viewers (8.0 million vs. 5.9 million) and beat the other major nets combined during primetime in Adults 18-49 (+9% - 2.5/9 vs. 2.3/8 - CBS, NBC and FOX together). In fact, ABC was the No. 1 major net all 4 Sundays of the 2016 May Sweep in Adults 18-49.

Excluding only the night of the 2016 Oscars, ABC delivered its strongest Sunday since November in viewers and young adults - since 11/22/15.

The "2016 Billboard Music Awards" (8:00-11:00 p.m. - 9.6 million and 3.1 rating in AD18-49):
Airing from 8:00-11:00 p.m. against big cable competition from NBA Playoffs,
"Game of Thrones" and the finale of "Fear the Walking Dead," ABC's "2016 Billboard Music Awards" drew an average audience of 9.6 million viewers and a 3.1 rating in Adults 18-49 to rank as Sunday's No. 1 broadcast program. In addition, the awards show is Sunday's most social program with 1.8 million tweets.

Coming off last year's biggest audience for the show since 2001, "The Billboard Music Awards" drew its 3rd-largest audience on ABC, behind only the 2 previous years.

A note about DVR penetration: DVR penetration in the Nielsen sample is currently at 49% in U.S. TV Homes. More viewers are watching shows on their own timetables, which are increasingly not reflected in the overnight Live + Same Day numbers. As a result, the Live + 7 Day ratings are the most accurate Nielsen measure to gauge the size of the TV audience.

Source: The Nielsen Company, True Fast National Live + Same Day Program Ratings for 5/22/16.

Photo credit: ABC/ Jeff Kravitz*

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