Perhaps hoping to see a battle to rival those of the network's wrestling shows, viewers tuned into UPN's The Source Hip-Hop Music Awards Tuesday night en masse, giving the telecast a 5.5 rating and a 9 share -- a 31-percent increase over last year.

Taping of the awards show in Pasadena last week was cut short when fights broke out on stage and in the audience. However, the additional awards presentations were taped later without the presence of an audience, and the unscheduled "smackdown" was deleted from the telecast.

Tuesday's show opened with a message from rapper Mos Def, who commented: "It wouldn't be fair to cast aspersions on an entire cultural movement based on the actions of a few. ... To quote my grandfather, 'One bad apple don't spoil the whole bunch.'"

Source: Studio Briefing