2015 Billboard Music Awards Score Highest Ratings Since 2003
The 2015 Billboard Music Awards were spotty and safe, earning the affair a host of pretty bland reviews. But none of that matters because it was the most-watched edition of the ceremony in 14 years.
Variety reports that ABC’s broadcast of the live show Sunday night (May 17) garnered a 3.7 rating in the 18-49 demographic, its highest in that coveted young adult demo since 2003 and up 6% from last year’s numbers. In terms of total viewers, this year’s BBMAs attracted 11.1 million, the highest since 2001 and a substantial increase over last year’s 10.5 million haul.
The lesson? It’s the names attached to the marketing leading up to the show, and not necessarily what happens during the show, that draws in eyeballs. Fitting, since the BBMAs are literally a popularity contest, handing out awards strictly based on quantity of sales and streams regardless of the content of those units. In that sense, the Billboard Awards may actually be the only honest awards show in the land.
