TV Ratings: 97.9% Of 18-49ers Did NOT Watch the Grammys

The 63rd Annual Grammy Awards were watched by a live US TV audience of 8.8 million on Sunday night, down 53% year-on-year, according to MusicBusinessWorldwide citing time-zone adjusted national data from Nielsen.

Those 8.8m viewers were down by nearly 10m on the 18.7m live TV viewers that Nielsen counted for the Grammys in 2020.

The figures also mean that 2021’s edition of the ceremony, hosted this year by South African comedian Trevor Noah, was the least-watched Grammys of all time.

In fact, the 8.8m viewers pulled in for 2021's show were nearly half the size of the audience for the Grammys' previously least-watched edition in 2006, when 17m viewers tuned in.

Additionally, Nielsen reports that the 2021 Grammys had a rating of just 2.1 amongst those between the ages of 18 and 49.

This rating number indicates the percentage of all US TV-watching adults within this age bracket to have viewed the Grammys broadcast on CBS on Sunday.

In other words, only 2.1% of 18-to-49-year-olds in the US tuned into the Grammys TV airing on Sunday, while 97.9% of them did not.

The pandemic could obviously have played a role in the scaled-down, socially distanced Grammys low TV ratings on Sunday. But others will question whether the ratings simply reflect a lessening of relevance for the Grammys and other awards shows (in their current formats) in today’s world.

However...anyone wondering that perhaps today's music talent pool may have something to do with the ratings?