Grammy Ratings Take a Serious Nosedive

Viewership was down 24 percent from last year

BY Calum SlingerlandPublished Jan 29, 2018

The Grammy Awards' ratings have taken a serious nosedive, as the viewership numbers for "music's biggest night" made a historic drop.

As Variety reports, this year's televised ceremony, which took place last night (January 28) in New York City, drew 19.8 million viewers and a 5.9 rating among adults 18-49, according to the Nielsen numbers. The 2017 ceremony, meanwhile, drew 26.1 million. This means the total audience numbers dropped a whopping 24 percent, with that 5.9 rating marking an historic low for the awards show.

Preliminary ratings also show that Nielsen's overnight metered markets averaged a household rating of 12.7 percent, down from 16 percent in 2017. Only 21 percent of American households watching television on Sunday night were watching the Grammy Awards.

As The Hollywood Reporter points out, the least-watched Grammys were in 1995, when 11.25 million viewers tied 1975 for the all-time low.

Last night's awards ceremonies featured a six-for-six sweep from Bruno Mars, immaculate outfit choices from JAY-Z and Beyoncé, and Time's Up solidarity on the red carpet. You can see a full list of 2018 Grammy winners here.

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