Ratings: American Music Awards On CBS Delivers Best Audience Since 2019

By Matt Webb Mitovich
AMAs Ratings Viewers Courtesy of Francis Specker/CBS

The 2025 American Music Awards — hosted Jennifer Lopez and featuring Icon Award winner Janet Jackson's first TV performance in seven years — delivered 5.2 million total viewers to CBS (with Live+7 playback), including out-of-home viewing and live streaming on Paramount+.

Factoring in encores on MTV (May 27), CMT (May 28) and BET (May 29), the special amassed more than 10 million unique viewers.  

That total CBS audience marks a 38% improvement on the ceremony's last live broadcast (hosted for ABC by Wayne Brady in November 2022), while also delivering demo gains of 91% (with Adults 18-34), 23% (Adults 18-49) and 16% (Adults 25-54).

All told, the Monday-night event delivered the AMAs' largest crowd since November 2019 (when 6.7 million tuned in to ABC for a Ciara-hosted telecast).

CBS also notes that the AMAs' return outpaced, among recent music-themed specials, ABC's CMA Fest 2024 (by 52%), ABC's CMA Country Christmas (by 26%) and NBC's recent SNL: 50 Years of Music (by 39%).

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Did you catch this year's American Music Awards? What were the highlights for you?

Note: American Music Awards producer Dick Clark Productions is owned by a subsidiary of Penske Media Corporation, TVLine's parent company.

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