The 2009 BET Hip Hop Awards rang up a 27% increase over the 2008 show and served as a strong lead-in for new series Monica: Still Standing.
The Oct. 27 telecast averaged 3.8 million viewers, up 26.6% from 3 million for the 2008 version of the awards show, according to Nielsen data. That gave BET the No. 1 hip hop-themed telecast for the fourth consecutive years: the awards show delivered 3.3 million and 3.6 million in 2007 and 2006, respectively.
The 2009 BET Hip Hop Awards also set the stage for 2.7 million to tune in the reality series debut of Monica: Still Standing, which chronicles the artist's personal and professional lives as the R&B singer records her fifth album. The Monica encore at 10:30 p.m. drew another 1.5 million viewers, according to network officials.
Monica's coming out party ranks as the second-best debut in BET history, behind the premiere of Tiny & Tonya
Click here to see an interview with Monica.
