Grammys Settle for 19.8 Million Viewers, Down 24 Percent From Last Year

James Corden’s second go-round hits all-time low in key demo

Bruno Mars Grammys
Photo by Kevin Winter/Getty Images for NARAS

The 60th Annual Grammy Awards will not be taking home the prize for the show’s Best Ever Telecast. Actually, it’s not even a close race. The James Corden-hosted CBS special brought in 19.8 million viewers on Sunday, a significant hit since his first hosting gig last year, not to mention the smallest audience since 19 million watched in 2009.

Sunday’s three-and-a-half hour awards show managed a 5.9 rating in the advertiser-coveted 18-49 demographic, according to time zone adjusted numbers provided by the network Monday. That marks an all-time low for the Grammys.

The 2017 telecast drew a 7.8 and 26.1 million viewers, meaning this year’s show is down 12 percent in the demo and 24 percent in total viewers.

Music’s Biggest Night earned a 12.7 household rating/21 share in overnight numbers, per the 56 metered-markets measured by Nielsen. That’s down from both the 2017 telecast (16/26) and the 2016 show (16.1/25) in the preliminary metric.

LL Cool J hosted the show for five consecutive years, from 2012 to 2016, and posted its highest ever viewership in his first year.

The 2012 broadcast, which happened the day after Whitney Houston’s death, drew 39.9 million total viewers with a 14.1 rating and 32 share.

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