CMT Awards Ratings: Biggest Audience Ever, Up 5% From 2022

5.43 million people watched the CMT Music Awards on Sunday night, according to Paramount Global, a 5% increase when compared to the shows 5.16 million viewers in 2022.

This tally comes from a combination of the linear viewers who tuned in via CBS and those who streamed on Paramount+. A finalized number including out-of-home-viewing is yet to come, though Paramount currently projects that it will land at 5.68 million total viewers in Live + Same Day.

Additionally, the CMT Awards were the most-streamed program of the night on Paramount+, and on social media, Paramount says that the show brought in 2.6 billion potential impressions compared to last years 2.5 billion.

2023 marks the second year that the ceremony aired on these platforms; before 2022, the CMT Awards were on its namesake network, the Paramount-owned cable channel CMT (Country Music Television. The strategy has proven fruitful for Paramount, which saw a 521% jump in viewership last year. On Thursday, CMT will air an extended directors cut with 30 minutes of extra performances and features.

The 2023 CMT Awards were hosted by country singers Kane Brown and Kelsea Ballerini for the third year in a row. Top honors went to Brown and his wife, Katelyn Brown, who won video of the year for their song Thank God, while Jelly Roll was most-awarded with three trophies, followed by Lainey Wilson with two. Highlights of the show included performances from Carly Pearce, Gwen Stefani and Alanis Morissette. Shania Twain was the recipient of the annual Equal Pay award.