Sunday’s Grammy Awards promised a battle of two music divas as Adele and Beyonce faced off for top honors. Just over 26 million viewers tuned in to CBS to find out who would win (Adele swept the big three races). The kudocast registered a 7.8 rating in the ad-friendly 18-49 demo. By comparison, last year’s Oscars had 34 million viewers while January’s Golden Globes drew 20 million.
2017 Grammy Awards: Full list of winners in all 84 categories
While the overall number was up by just over 1 million on last year’s show, which was held on Monday, February 15, the demo was up by a mere 1%. Unlike last year, music’s biggest night faced strong competition this year from the return of the AMC monster hit “The Walking Dead.”
Grammy Awards 2017: How did James Corden do as host? [POLL]
That the Grammys managed to rally this many eyeballs is a testament to good marketing. However, it still ranks as the third-lowest ever, behind last year’s (24.95 million) and the 2009 edition that merited an audience of only 19 million.
Sign up to get Gold Derby’s free newsletter
with experts’ latest predictions and breaking news
Comparing the ratings to two years ago, when it also aired on a Sunday opposite “The Walking Dead,” the Grammys were up by just under 1 million viewers but down in the A18-49 demo quite dramatically (from 8.5).
