Before the music yawns

by Lee Simmons, November 27th, 2006, 7:00 am

Note to mega music award show organizers: Get it together.

2006 will be one of the most dismal for viewership when it comes to televised music awards programs. Fewer viewers means fewer advertising dollars, which could mean fewer CD sales for artists and record labels. The downward spiral could spell the end, or more likely a reconfiguration, of such extravagant productions.

Lately, these shows have billed themselves as not-to-be-missed spectacles. When the credits roll, however, they’ve garnered a fraction of the viewers they once did. Three recent victims come to mind – the MTV Video Music Awards, the Country Music Awards (CMA), and the Grammy Awards.

MTV’s annual to-do in August was the first casualty, pulling in a mere 5.77 million viewers, down from 8 million the year before. Viacom president Tom Freston, in his job for a piddling nine months, was unceremoniously handed his walking papers not long after.

Meanwhile, after its tremendously successful New York experiment in 2005, the CMAs returned to Nashville in November to the collective yawn of music fans everywhere. The super-hyped event proved a ratings flop for ABC — drawing 16 million viewers, the lowest in the show’s 4-decade history — according to Nielsen Media Research. What worked before – a fresh start in the Big Apple – could easily have been repeated elsewhere. Anywhere, really, except Nashville.

Grammy was also less than great in 2006. CBS drew a depressing 17 million viewers for the annual show according to Nielsen (little more than half of American Idol’s audience during the same week).

Declining ratings reflect the broader disappearance of network audiences, thanks in large part to the amount of entertainment now available to consumers. Online phenomena such as YouTube are partly to blame for the downshift in viewers, as more people and advertisers flock to such sites thanks to their free content and easy access.

So, in the midst of such depressive ratings news, how did Univision win big? Its Latin Grammy Awards reaped some 11.3 million viewers, making it the top program in its time period in several major markets. The show also happened to air on the opening night of the all-venerable November sweeps (incidentally, quarterly sweeps ratings help determine advertising rates). Univision’s surprising success might have something to do with the fact that it correctly identified its core demographic, the country’s growing Hispanic population.

I know what you’re thinking. The music industry is about as risk-averse as Keith Richards’ physician. Still, organizers like the Country Music Association and MTV can learn a thing or two from past experience. Don’t be afraid to shake things up (i.e. Seattle would be a terrific host for next year’s CMAs. Seriously.). And don’t forget your demographic.