Report: Grammy Ratings Woes Worse Than They Appear

Bruno Mars’ big night at the 60th Annual Emmy Awards generated plenty of controversy Sunday. It did not generate much interest from television viewers, reports Variety.

In the key 18-49 demo, Sunday night’s Grammys telecast hit an all-time low, according to Nielsen early numbers, with a 5.9 rating. The show averaged 19.81 million total viewers, its lowest tally since 2008. That’s a 24% drop from the previous year  — the greatest year-to-year declines for the awards show since 2013.

Since 2013, the Grammys telecast has been on a steady ratings slide, shedding total viewers and demo ratings points every year — to the point that Sunday’s telecast was down 30% in total viewers and 41% in the demo from 2013.

The ratings hit that the Grammys took Sunday night was likely fueled by a lackluster field of nominees, with top pop stars such as Beyoncé, Taylor Swift, and Adele absent from major categories. Mars’ six wins appeared to not sit well viewers on social media, where many expressed surprise that Mars beat out Kendrick Lamar for album of the year. A dearth of female winners turned into a #GrammysSoMale trend on Twitter.

Other major awards shows have struggled similarly of late.

Last year’s Primetime Emmy Awards telecast was down 36% in total viewers and 49% in the demo over the last five years. The Tony Awards, the People’s Choice Awards, The Billboard Music Awards, the American Music Awards, the CMA Awards, and the Academy of Country Music Awards have all experienced similar declines. And most importantly, downward trending ratings have become the norm for what is still the most watched of all awards shows: the Oscars. Last year’s show was down 30% in the demo and 18% in viewers since 2013 as well.