The Queen Latifah-hosted ceremony saw a 72% uptick in viewership from last year
Saturday’s 54th NAACP Image Awards nabbed 2.9 million viewers, according to Nielsen live plus same-day data.
The 2023 ceremony, which was hosted by R&B legend and Hollywood staple Queen Latifah, saw a 72% uptick in total viewership from last year, as the awards were simulcast live across 13 Paramount Global networks, including BET HER, CMT, Comedy Central, LOGO, MTV, MTV2, Paramount Network, POP TV, Smithsonian, TV Land and VH1.
As the evening claimed its place as No. 1 most social primetime program on all of cable Saturday night, the NAACP Image Awards drew in over 10.4 million social interactions across Instagram, Facebook, Twitter, and YouTube, according to Conviva, Sprinklr and Adobe Analytics, marking a 1,658% increase in social interactions.
Honoring Black luminaries across the industry in 70 categories, beloved favorite “Abbott Elementary” was honored alongside “Black Panther: Wakanda Forever” star Angela Bassett, Nicco Annan, Viola Davis and Will Smith and special award recipients Gabrielle Union-Wade, Dwyane Wade, Serena Williams and Benjamin Crump.
Presented by Wells Fargo and sponsored by Bank of America, Gushers, Google, Airbnb, Amazon, FedEx, Lowe’s, Alaska Airlines, American Airlines, Audible, Bacardi, and Mielle, the “54th NAACP Image Awards” hails from Hudlin Entertainment and The Gurin Company, with Reggie Hudlin and Phil Gurin serving as executive producers. Byron Phillips served as co-executive producer alongside producer Robin Reinhardt, while Connie Orlando and Jamal Noisette were executive producers for BET.
Loree Seitz
Loree joined TheWrap as a reporter in 2022 after interning at the publication during the summer of 2021. Loree has covered entertainment, film and television for TheWrap and has reported on the media industry and the cable news beat. She has also written for MovieMaker Magazine, where she interned in 2020.