A move to New York didn’t give the Country Music Association Awards the boost in ratings they had hoped for.

Ratings for New York alone did increase — up 29 percent to 5.4, compared with 4.2 last year.

But, overall the CMAs reported 36 million viewers watched all or part of the three-hour awards show on CBS, down from 37 million last year and 40 million in 2003, reports FoxNews.com.

CBS said the average number of viewers this year was about 17.73 million.

“The biggest thing that made the difference from last year was the weather system in the middle of the country,” CMA Executive Director Ed Benson said.

“A string of tornadoes hit right at show time. Nashville was down 22 percent. Cincinnati was down 13 percent. There was no increase in Louisville, Ky., and Indianapolis, where we thought we would have gained ground.”

Benson wouldn’t say what the show cost, but estimated that doing the show in New York would cost more than double what it would in Nashville.

The Awards have taken place in Nashville since 1967 and will return there next year for its 40th anniversary.

The CMAs moved to New York this year in hopes of bringing more media attention to the event.

“What the CMA did was bring the awards to the place where the press and the advertising community were rather than try to bring the press and the advertising community to Nashville,” said Ed Salamon, executive director of the trade group Country Radio Broadcasters.

FoxNews.com said Salamon hopes the move will continue to pay off through media exposure, concert bookings and product endorsements.






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