ABC has strongest week in ratings in more than a year, with assist from country music

Country music awards boost ABC in the ratings

NEW YORK — Country music is a good friend to ABC.

The network had its strongest ratings week in more than a year last week.

One big reason was its telecast of the Country Music Association Awards, which the Nielsen Co. says brought more than 17 million people to the network.

Also doing well for ABC was a special with Robin Roberts interviewing country stars including Carrie Underwood and Tim McGraw.

ABC and CBS dominated the ratings. Of the 30 most-watched shows in prime-time, 24 were on one of those networks.

An exception was NBC’s Sunday night football telecast, a game between rivals New England and Indianapolis. It was the most-watched program of the week.