The Billboard Music Awards on Sunday shot up in the ratings from last year's ceremony, pushing ABC to a commanding overall win for the night, according to preliminary numbers.
ABC came in first in the advertiser-sought 18-49 demographic with a 3.6 rating/10 share and in total viewers with 8.9 million. This was due largely to the Billboard Music Awards at 8 p.m., which jumped 33 percent over last year's awards show to a 3.6/10 — the night's strongest performance in the demo. The show had 9.5 million total viewers. Sunday night's Billboard Music Awards posted the ceremony's highest performance in the demo since 2003 and its largest total viewership since 2001.