BBMAS CRASH IN THE RATINGS

Audience figures for the Billboard Music Awards plummeted 62% from last year's show, hitting a record low in the key 18-49 demo, according to overnight ratings from Nielsen.

The audience-free awards show averaged 3.57m viewers, down from 7.96m last year and 7.87m in 2018. It’s demo rating was 0.8.

The NBC-aired show had its largest audience—4.28m— in its first half hour, which opened with host Kelly Clarkson, Pentatonix and Sheila E. performing Steve Winwood’s “Higher Love.”

From there, the audience dropped with each successive half-hour until it had 2.9m viewers in its final half-hour.