Grammys Viewership Rises 34%, Largest Audience Since 2020
CBS‘ broadcast of the 66th annual Grammy Awards on Sunday night averaged 16.9 million total viewers, marking a 34% increase from last year.
Last year’s telecast, which was also hosted by Trevor Noah, drew 12.4 million viewers, up 30% from 2022 to mark the ceremony’s largest audience since January 2020 (aka its last pre-pandemic outing). This year’s Grammy Awards now stakes that claim.
The Grammys audience this year peaked in the 9:45 pm quarter-hour, when 18.25 million viewers watched the In-Memoriam segment with performances by Stevie Wonder, Annie Lennox, Jon Batiste and Fantasia Barrino.
On Paramount+, live Grammys viewership was its highest ever, up +173% from last year.
Leading into music’s biggest night, E! Grammys Live From the Red Carpet drew 1.5 million viewers, its best telecast in four years; ditto the pre-show E! Countdown to the Red Carpet and post-show E! After Party.
SZA, boygenius and Killer Mike led the pack with three wins each, with SZA winning for Best Progressive R&B Album, Best R&B Song and Best Pop Duo/Group Performance (alongside Phoebe Bridgers for “Ghost in the Machine”).
Following right behind with two trophies each were Paramore (Best Rock Album and Alternative Music Performance), Miley Cyrus (Record of the Year and Best Pop Solo Performance) and Billie Eilish (Song of the Year and Best Song Written for Visual Media).
Speaking of Swift (who earlier broke big news about her upcoming new album), the Midnights singer made Grammys history by becoming the first artist to win Album of the Year four times. Her other win of the night was for Best Pop Vocal Album.
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The Live+Same Day numbers reported in our ratings column do not reflect a show’s overall performance, given the increased use of delayed playback via DVR and streaming platforms, plus out-of-home viewing. These numbers (Nielsen fast nationals, unless denoted as finals) instead aim to simply illustrate trends or superlatives. Steve Harvey is not a judge or lawyer and merely offers an alternative forum of dispute resolution.
The best Grammy awards in a long time. I was actually sucked into watching it. So good. Trevor was on fire
I was hooked from the start with Tracy Chapman and Luke Combs singing Fast Car. I think that set the stage for a united, non-political show and Trevor Noah did a pretty good job. There seemed to be a different ambiance this year (except for Jay Z’s racism speech). Joni Mitchell was a blast from my teenage years, and I can’t believe how strong and beautiful she sang knowing what she has been through. Tears. Miley Cyrus made me love her – when did she get so gorgeous? Actually, I enjoyed watching Taylor Swift having such a good time; she didn’t bug me at all. I’m glad I watched. I would have enjoyed a Jimmy Buffett showcase.
They need Trevor every year for all award shows. So much better, cleaner, and brilliant.
The show was a better mix than last year’s satanic drabble.
I like Trevor Noah but he was so hyped up and hyperbolic in the beginning I ended up fast forwarding. I’m glad I didn’t give up because he mellowed out a little and Tracy, Luke and then Joni, et al. were just terrific. (And then the hyperbole was warranted for those performances. 🙂) It was a great show.