52nd CMA Awards hosts Brad Paisley and Carrie Underwood banter with 11-year-old “yodel boy” Mason Ramsey. (Photo: Getty Images)

Despite a 34 percent decline over the prior year, ABC’s 2018 CMA Awards were still the top-rated broadcast show of last night. Major star power including Keith Urban, Miranda Lambert, Jason Aldean, and hosts Carrie Underwood and Brad Paisley apparently weren’t enough to pull in viewers who’ve drifted off to other media. Replays throughout the week should boost the total number slightly, however. The show was the 52nd from the Country Music Association.

Airing from 8-11 p.m., the telecast drew a 2.1 rating in adults 18-49 and 10.1 million viewers in overnight ratings. Last year’s initial telecast drew a 3.2 rating and 14.3 million viewers, for a total drop of 34% among that demographic audience and 29% in total viewers. In September the 2018 Emmy Awards telecast also saw a steep dip, attracting 10.2  million viewers — barely more than the CMA’s.  

Country favorite Chris Stapleton took home the most awards of the evening, with three wins in five at bats — not a bad ratio. Stapleton’s triumphs included male vocalist, song and single (both for “Broken Halos”).

Kasey Musgraves scored a surprise victory over Stapleton in the album of the year category with Golden Hour, her first win in that prestige category.  Likewise Keith Urban won the coveted entertainer of the year prize. Urban is pretty much annually nominated but hasn’t won since 2005, and seemed genuinely shocked when his name was called. These upsets, performances by the likes of Kelsea Ballerini, Dierks Bentley with the Brothers Osborne, Florida Georgia Line, Garth Brooks, who debuted a new song, “Stronger Than Me,” dedicated to his wife Trisha Yearwood — pretty much everybody who’s anybody — were not enough to draw whopping crowds.

A very pregnant Underwood even revealed the gender of her baby on air (it’s a boy). Underwood went on to perform her current single, “Love Wins,” in a virtuoso vocal display Billboard said “stunned those watching,” cementing her status as “one of the top female talents in country music history.”

No one could deny but that the show was emotional, inventive and beautifully produced. Brooks opened the proceeding by asking the sold-out crowd at Nashville’s Bridgestone Arena for a moment of silence to remember victims of the Nov. 7 shooting in Thousand Oaks, California, at the Borderline country and western bar. Luke Bryan immediately launched into “What Makes You Country.”

Meanwhile, on Sunday, Nov. 11, ABC aired its yearly CMAs teaser, Country Music’s Biggest Stars, this year subtitled In the Spotlight with Robin Roberts. The Good Morning American host explored the private lives of a host of notables from the country stratosphere, including Urban, Underwood, Kenny Chesney and more. But Sunday nights are tough, especially when you’re up against NFL. Country Music’s Biggest Stars: In the Spotlight with Robin Roberts notched 3.463 million total viewers and 0.4  in the 18-49 range.