Ratings: CMAs Rout the Competition

Taylor Swift The 45th annual CMA Awards led ABC to a resounding ratings victory Wednesday night as the three-hour program averaged 16.32 million viewers, outpacing its closest competition by some 5 million, Nielsen overnight data shows. It also pasted rivals in the industry-prized 18-to-49 demo, scoring a 4.8 rating - a 2 percent rise over last year's CMAs (which hit an all-time low). CMA Awards Red Carpet: Who wore what? Meantime, The X Factor performance show averaged 10.66 million viewers and 3.7 demo rating over its two hours. At 8/7, Survivor: South Pacific rounded up 10.60 million viewers on CBS against NBC's Up All Night, which pulled 4.79 million and 3.51 million for a first-run episode and repeat, respectively, and an America's Next Top Model repeat got 983,000 for The CW. Fall TV Survey: You can't get enough TV, can you? In prime time's middle hour: CBS' Criminal Minds was the night's second most-watched show with 11.31 million vs. NBC's Harry's Law (7.05 million) and Model on The CW (1.65 million). In the final prime-time hour, CBS' CSI: Crime Scene Investigation attracted 10.09 million fans; NBC's Law & Order: Special Victims Unit was watched by 6.64 million.