Another Underwhelming Audience Tally For ‘The Grammy Awards’

Based on the Nielsen time zone-adjusted fast national rating night on Sundays, 8.93 million viewers tuned in for The 64th Annual Grammy Awards on CBS. That includes those that watched the linear broadcast (on CBS) or live streamed the show via Paramount+ and other platforms. Factoring in the estimated out of home viewing, the Eye network is estimating 9.6 million viewers across all live platforms, which would mark a minor single-digit rise from last year.

While any growth in today’s multi-faceted content viewing landscape is certainly a positive, keep in mind that the record low 9.4 total audience figure in 2021 (for the then virtual telecast) was down by a staggering 50% from the 18.8 million viewers that tuned in the year prior for the January 2020 telecast. At the time, The Grammy Awards had posted three consecutive years of audience erosion.

At its peak, The Grammy Awards attracted a whopping 39 million viewers in 2012.

CBS is also reporting that the live telecast, hosted by Trevor Noah, dominated social media with 92 billion potential impressions – up from both 2021 and 2020. The #GRAMMYS trended in the top ten for 18 hours, peaking at #1. Given Will Smith’s violent outburst at The Academy Awards one week earlier, part of that social media surge could possibly be attributed to any other potential snafus during this telecast. Thankfully, that never happened.