The BET Awards may have posted an impressive uptick in viewership last year with its first virtual incarnation (as we reported here), but new reports reveal “Culture’s Biggest Night” was unable to continue that trajectory with their latest edition.
Despite aligning the star power of megawatt talent of Cardi B, H.E.R, Lil Nas X, DaBaby, Megan Thee Stallion, and more on its most packed performance roster to date, their combined shine – thank to steep competition from televised U.S. Olympics programming – wasn’t enough to illuminate ratings tallies.
Details inside:
Viewership: 2.4 Million
“…the 2021 BET Awards simulcast reached 2.4 million total viewers, down substantially from last year’s 3.7 million. That’s an all-time low since the iconic awards show started back in 2001.
The showing follows similarly problematic ratings from other awards show staples, including the Academy Awards (i.e., the Oscars), the Grammy Awards, and the American Music Awards (AMAs), all of which hit ratings nadirs in 2021. Now, the BET Awards becomes the latest awards show to post all-time lows, raising more questions about the once-reliable awards format.”
While BET’s main station drew in an audience of 1.7 million, it collected an additional 700,000 pair of eyes across its simulcasting sister ViacomCBS stations BET Her, MTV, MTV2, Logo, TV Land, and VH1 – making it one of Sunday night’s most-viewed programs (June 27).
With viewership from BET Awards-related shows included (i.e. countdowns, etc), the year’s composite of BET Awards branded content saw the network post a total of 4.6 million viewers.