According to EURweb, BET suffered a slight drop in rating from their 2011 show — overall it fell from 7.7M to 7.4M viewers.
Despite slightly lower than expected numbers, the show turned out to be the third most watched event of 2012 directly behind the Super Bowl and the Grammys.
Sunday’s show welcomed ESSENCE Music Festival performer D’Angelo, who made his first TV appearance in more than 12 years, Monica, Brandy, Cissy Houston and Chaka Khan who joined forces for a stellar Whitney Houston tribute.