“Music’s Biggest Night” was slightly less big than last year’s — at least in the early going.
From 8 p.m.-11:30 ET, the Grammys on CBS posted a 16.1 rating/25 share in Nielsen households. Last year, that initial rating — which measures 56 metered markets — was a 16.7, down 6 percent from 2014’s show. The 2015 version had a 26 share, a point higher than this one.
That all means last night’s show was down about 3.5 percent in household ratings, which is not terrible and probably steady enough for CBS, all things considered. Still, it’s the lowest-rated Grammys per these very preliminary ratings since Feb. 8, 2009, when the awards show did a 12.3/19.
Eventually, last year’s celebration of music ended up averaging 25.3 million total viewers — also a six-year low at the time. We’ll find out later today if Monday’s effort tacks on another year to the wrong end of that record, or if it was able to stop the bleeding a bit.
In the key 18-49 demographic, the year-ago Grammys got an 8.5 rating.
Monday marked the first year the Grammys have been available live on both coasts, an effort to boost tune-in on the left side of the country.