THE NOTHING-
BURGER AWARDS

After the American Music Awards telecast, some say the highlight of the evening was Lyor Cohen losing his cool at posh Beverly Hills eatery Madeo—exploding out of his seat, ranting and raving about how he was being treated. One observer wondered if Lyor was suffering from indigestion brought on by early reads on those AMA ratings, or perhaps by the veal chop. Others say it was just another example of the bully caught in another of his fake news accounts.

click image for Lyor toon action.

This year, the AMAs achieved a new ratings nadir and had a negligible impact on the music marketplace, despite superstarpower like Taylor Swift, Cardi B, Camila Cabello, Shawn Mendes and Panic! At the Disco. The show was down 25% in the essential 18-49 demo and nearly 30% in total viewers compared to 2017. Insiders say the show’s producers bullied ABC into moving it to a Tuesday night so it wouldn’t be up against Sunday night football—a huge tactical error, it turns out. Instead of competing (albeit poorly) as counterprogramming to the older-skewing, male-heavy NFL, the AMAs got crushed by The Voice and This Is Us, both killers in the key demo. Oh, and the Yankees-Red Sox elimination game on Tuesday night was the coup de gras.