The Grammy Awards reached a three-year high for CBS on Sunday night, but as with most awards shows, their numbers are still well below pre-pandemic levels.
The 65th Grammys, back in their usual winter home after running in April and March the past two years, delivered 12.55 million viewers, according to final same-day Nielsen ratings. That’s a 31 percent improvement on the 9.59 million people who watched the 2022 awards — though the latter figure is a TV only audience. They delivered a 2.88 rating among adults 18-49, up 29 percent from a year ago. (CBS said early figures that put the audience at 12.4 million also included streaming on Paramount+ and CBS apps; it’s unclear if the final numbers are cross-platform or just the on-air audience for the broadcast network.)
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In both measures, the Grammys are the most watched network primetime program (excluding sports) this season. The awards put up their best numbers on CBS since 2020, the last ceremony held before the COVID-19 pandemic began. Sunday’s show was behind 2020 by 33 percent in total viewers (vs. 18.69 million) and by 46 percent in the 18-49 demographic (vs. 5.4)
Though per usual no specific numbers were attached, Paramount+ says the awards drew the biggest live-streaming audience in the service’s history.
Elsewhere Sunday, HBO’s The Last of Us grew for the third straight week since its premiere, growing 17 percent over the previous week to a cross-platform audience of 7.5 million viewers.
Feb. 6, 2:15 p.m. Updated to reflect that the Grammy viewership reported by CBS includes streaming on Paramount+ and CBS digital platforms.
Feb. 7, 10 a.m. Updated with final ratings numbers from Sunday.
