Viewership for CBS’ coverage of the Grammy Awards was up 30.8% from last year, but still the third-lowest on record, according to live-plus-same-day figures released by Nielsen Tuesday.
The first 3 hours, 12 minutes of Sunday’s ceremony from Crypto.com Arena averaged 12.545 million viewers. Under Nielsen rules, the ratings cover the time from the start of the ceremony until the end of the final commercial break.
The ceremony’s final 42 minutes ran without commercials and were considered a separate program. It averaged 10.139 million viewers, second among prime-time programs airing between Jan. 30 and Sunday.
The 2022 ceremony, which was delayed to April due to a surge in COVID- 19 cases in the Los Angeles area, averaged 9.587 million viewers, airing when television viewing is traditionally lower because of better weather and more sunshine caused by the shift to daylight saving time.
The Grammys set a record low in 2021, 9.227 million, when much of the ceremony was virtual.
The only Grammy ceremonies on record to average fewer than 17 million viewers have come in the past three years. Like nearly all forms of programming, viewership for awards shows has declined in recent years because of increased options available on streaming services, including the same programs as on traditional television. Figures are available dating back to 1977.
The record audience for the Grammys was in 1984, when it averaged 51.671 million when Michael Jackson won a record eight awards.
CBS had each of the eight most-watched prime-time programs and 10 of the top 11 for its second victory in the 20-week-old 2022-23 prime-time television season, both coming in the past two weeks.
CBS averaged 5.26 million viewers, NBC 2.89 million and ABC 2.73 million, all for 22 hours of prime-time programming.
CBS’ “Young Sheldon” was the week’s most-watched scripted program, averaging 7.31 million viewers, third for the week. Each of its 11 first-run episodes this season has been its week’s most-watched comedy.
The NBC crime drama “Law & Order: Special Victims Unit” was the most- watched non-CBS program, finishing ninth, averaging 5.338 million viewers.
“Celebrity Jeopardy!” was ABC’s most-watched program for the second consecutive week, finishing 14th, averaging 4.838 million viewers.
Fox averaged 2.26 million viewers for its 15 hours, 51 minutes of prime-time programming. “9-1-1: Lone Star” was its most-watched program for the second time in its two episodes of the season, finishing 21st, averaging 4.052 million viewers.
The CW averaged 400,000 viewers for its 14 hours of programming. Its most-watched program for was a rerun of the magic competition series “Penn & Teller: Fool Us,” which averaged 690,000 viewers, tying for 161st among broadcast programs with a episode of the 1972-83 CBS comedy “M*A*S*H” that aired on MeTV. Its overall ranking was not available.
The 20 most-watched prime-time programs consisted of two segments of the Grammys; nine CBS scripted programs, “60 Minutes” and “The Price is Right at Night”; three NBC scripted programs and “America’s Got Talent: All- Stars”; and the ABC alternative programs “Celebrity Jeopardy!” and “America’s Funniest Home Videos” Shark and its scripted series “The Rookie.”
The five editions of the Fox News Channel political talk show “Tucker Carlson Tonight” were the five most-watched prime-time cable programs for the second consecutive week, topped by the Monday edition, which averaged 3.487 million viewers, 29th overall.
Fox News Channel was the most-watched cable network in prime time for the second consecutive week, averaging 2.23 million viewers. ESPN was second, averaging 1.092 million viewers, and MSNBC third, averaging 1.023 million.
The cable top 20 consisted 14 Fox News Channel weeknight political talk shows (five broadcasts each of “Tucker Carlson Tonight” and “Hannity” and four of “The Ingraham Angle”); ESPN’s coverage of Saturday’s Duke-North Carolina men’s basketball game; History’s long-running chronicle of a search for treasure on a Canadian island, “The Curse of Oak Island”; the MSNBC news and opinion program, “The Rachel Maddow Show”; the first two hour-long segments of the USA Network professional wrestling program “WWE Raw”; and the Hallmark Channel movie, “Sweeter Than Chocolate.”
“You People” was Netflix’s most-watched program for the second consecutive week, with viewers spending 65.61 million hours watching the romantic comedy film in its first full week of release, 17.9% more than the 55.65 million hours watched the previous week when it was available for three days, according to figures released by the streaming service Tuesday.
“Lockwood & Co.” was Netflix’s most-watched English-language television program, with viewers watching the eight-episode first season of the scripted ghost-hunting series for 39.42 million hours in its first full week of release, 56.9% more than the 25.12 million hours watched the previous week when it was available for three days.
The second season of “Ginny & Georgia” dropped to second with 38.09 million hours watched of its 10 episodes after being Netflix’s most-watched television program for each of the first four weeks it was available.
An episode of the Univision telenovela “Mi Camino Es Amarte” was the most-watched Spanish-language program for the second time in three weeks, with the Monday episode averaging 1.699 million viewers, 65th among broadcast programs. Its overall rank was not available.
Univision was the most-watched Spanish-language network for the 26th consecutive week and 164th time in 166 weeks, averaging 1.3 million viewers. Telemundo was second, averaging 1.06 million viewers, followed by UniMas (450,000), and Estrella TV (90,000).
ABC’s “World News Tonight with David Muir” was the most-watched nightly newscast for 165th time in 166 weeks and 217th time in 218 weeks, averaging 8.837 million viewers. “NBC Nightly News with Lester Holt” was second, averaging 7.567 million viewers, and the “CBS Evening News with Norah O’Donnell” third, averaging 5.506 million viewers.
The week’s 10 most-watched prime-time programs were the two segments of CBS’ coverage of the 65th annual Grammy Awards; CBS’ “Young Sheldon,” “60 Minutes,” “Ghosts,” “Fire Country,” “Blue Bloods” and “S.W.A.T.”; NBC’s “Law & Order: Special Victims Unit”; and CBS’ “The Price is Right at Night.”
