- Share this article on Facebook
- Share this article on Twitter
- Share this article on Flipboard
- Share this article on Email
- Show additional share options
- Share this article on Linkedin
- Share this article on Pinit
- Share this article on Reddit
- Share this article on Tumblr
- Share this article on Whatsapp
- Share this article on Print
- Share this article on Comment
ABC made a big swing with Sunday’s George Stephanopoulos sitdown with James Comey — and while the interview looks like it scored a win in the 10 o’clock hour, CBS powered broadcast’s evening with the Academy of Country Music Awards.
The ABC News interview, Sunday’s second in so many weeks to take aim at the Trump administration after 60 Minutes‘ ratings hit interview with Stormy Daniels, averaged 9.8 million viewers and a 2.4 rating in the news demo of adults 25-54 for the network. It was a vast improvement from its American Idol lead-in, at a season low with a 1.3 rating among adults 18-49 and 6.3 million viewers, building on the lead-in among both total viewers and the younger demo.
The former FBI director, who has a book coming out, used his time with Stephanopoulos to detail his time working with the president before his 2017 firing. He called Trump “morally unfit” for the job and suggested that one of their meetings could be evidence of obstruction. For a quick comparison to the most recent broadcast tell-all on Trump, ABC didn’t even manage half of what Anderson Cooper and 60 Minutes earned with its more-hyped interview with alleged Trump paramour Stormy Daniels. That skyrocketed to 22 million viewers.
CBS was unbeatable during primetime, however. Even though Comey’s interview took a bite out of the last hour of the country awards, the ACMAs were up from 2017 with an average 12.1 million viewers. In the key demo, the show held the most recent score of a 2.1 rating. (60 Minutes, earlier in the night, was also a better performer than ABC. 10.4 million watched at 7 p.m.)
Sunday’s biggest story, at least in the key demo, is almost assuredly AMC’s The Walking Dead. The cable drama aired its eighth season finale. Those numbers will arrive on Tuesday.
Elsewhere, The Simpsons led Fox’s comedy lineup with a steady 1.0 rating among adults 18-49. Bob’s Burgers (0.9 adults and 0.7 adults)) and Brooklyn Nine-Nine (0.9 adults) also held, though Last Man on Earth (0.6 adults) ticked down. On NBC, Little Big Shots (0.7 adults) was also down before Genius Junior (0.7 adults) and Timeless (0.5 adults).
THR Newsletters
Sign up for THR news straight to your inbox every day