( EW.com ) -- Has Bieber Fever broken ? Justin Bieber swept the top categories at the 40th Annual American Music Awards on Sunday night , winning three of the night 's biggest categories . But ratings were down sharply from last year . The AMAs telecast delivered 9.5 million viewers and a 3.4 rating on ABC , falling 21 percent from 2011 to an all-time low . In a way , this performance goes against the ratings trend . In recent years , broadcast scripted shows have been on a downward slope thanks to cable and DVRs , but awards programs have been seemingly immune . The working theory is that the more urgency you can create around a telecast , the better the numbers . So sporting events , competition reality shows and award shows have often out-performed other types of programming because viewers want to enjoy the immediacy of the event and not get spoiled by headlines revealing the outcome the next day . Obviously , last night , not so much . EW Daily Poll : 'SNL 's 'The Californians ' sketch is ... ABC points out the telecast was up against tough competition from NBC 's Sunday Night Football and some NFL overrun on CBS , though sports and music award show audiences do n't typically have a ton of overlap . Chart ( Note : NBC ratings are very preliminary due to live sports coverage ; CBS ratings are also temporary since NFL overrun delayed the network 's entertainment lineup ) : . ADULT DEMO RANK ADULTS 18-49 RATINGS TOTAL VIEWERS ( +000 ) FOX 7:00P NFL/ BOB'S-11/18 7P # 20 1.3 3,416 . 7:30P CLEVELAND # 17t 1.6 3,278 . 8:00P SIMPSONS # 8t 2.5 5,185 . 8:30P BOBS BURGR # 15 1.8 3,984 . 9:00P FAMILY GUY # 8t 2.5 5,065 . 9:30P AMERICAN DAD # 13 2.0 4,161 . ABC 7-8P AMR-VIDEOS # 16 1.7 7,468 . 8-11P AMERICAN MUSIC AWARDS S # 5 3.4 9,471 . CBS 7:00P NFL OVERRUN # 1 6.1 19,543 . 7:30P NFL/60 MINUTES # 3 4.9 17,298 . 8:00P 60 MINUTES # 6 3.2 14,145 . 8:30P 60 MIN/AMAZG # 8t 2.5 11,450 . 9:00P AMAZING RACE # 11 2.2 9,482 . 9:30P AMZG /GOOD WIFE # 12 2.1 9,793 . 10:00P GOOD WIFE # 17t 1.6 9,645 . 10:30P GOOD WIFE/MENTALIST # 17t 1.6 9,383 . NBC 7:00P FTB # 14 1.9 6,317 . 7:30P FTBL # 7 2.7 8,016 . 8:00P FTBL # 4 4.5 12,751 . 830-11P SNF : RAVEN & STLRS # 2 6.0 15,801 . See original story at EW.com . CLICK HERE to Try 2 RISK FREE issues of Entertainment Weekly . © 2011 Entertainment Weekly and Time Inc. All rights reserved .
The awards show 's ratings fell 21 percent from 2011 . In a way , the performance went against the ratings trend . ABC pointed out that it was up against tough competition from NBC 's Sunday Night Football .