March 29, 2024

Media Decoder Blog: CBS Broadcast of Kennedy Center Honors Draws 8 Million Viewers

Among those honored at the Kennedy Center in December were Jimmy Page of Led Zeppelin, David Letterman and Buddy Guy.Jason Reed/Reuters Among those honored at the Kennedy Center in December were Jimmy Page of Led Zeppelin, David Letterman and Buddy Guy.

CBS’s broadcast of the Kennedy Center Honors, a 35-year holiday tradition for the network, attracted more than eight million viewers on Wednesday, easily outdrawing its competitors for the night.

The network noted that the awards telecast had its highest rating in three years among 25- to 54-year-olds, a target demographic for advertisers.

The awards for lifetime achievement in the performing arts were presented on Dec. 2 in Washington and were edited down to a two-hour format by CBS, as is the network’s custom. The recipients this year were David Letterman, Dustin Hoffman, Buddy Guy, Natalia Makarova and the rock band Led Zeppelin. CBS has supported the awards since they were conceived in 1978.

CBS swept the night in part because the reruns shown by the other broadcast networks were relatively low rated. The Spanish-language network Univision beat all the English language broadcasters, CBS included, among 18- to 49-year-olds for the night with its lineup of telenovelas.


Article source: http://mediadecoder.blogs.nytimes.com/2012/12/27/cbs-broadcast-of-kennedy-center-honors-draws-8-million-viewers/?partner=rss&emc=rss

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