Grammys Hits Historic Low in Ratings, Drawing 10 Million Fewer Viewers Than Last Year
Kevin Winter/Getty Images
The Grammy Awards, hosted this year by The Daily Show’s Trevor Noah, hit a new low in the ratings, averaging the smallest audience in history, according to Nielsen.
The 63rd Annual Grammy Awards averaged 8.8 million viewers, including those that watched the linear broadcast or live streamed the show via CBS.com, the CBS app or Paramount+.
The event — held at small scale this year due to the coronavirus pandemic — also garnered a 2.6 rating in adults 25-54, 2.1 in the 18-49 demographic, and 1.5 in adults ages 18-34.
The 2020 Grammy Awards averaged 18.7 million viewers and earned a final 5.4 rating in the key demographic according to Variety, while the 2019 Grammy Awards drew in 19.9 million viewers with a 5.6 rating in the key demographic.
Despite the low numbers, this year’s event marks the most-streamed Grammy Awards ever, with 83 percent more streamers than the 2020 show.
The show also beat out the other Sunday night broadcasts of 2021, garnering the largest primetime audience for any awards show during the current 2020-2021 season.
Prior to this year’s ceremony, the least-watched Grammys was 2006’s host-less event, which racked up 17 million viewers.
The ceremony’s lineup featured over 22 musicians, who performed at various locations due to the ongoing pandemic, and the event was broadcast from five separate stages to help presenters and artists be as safe as possible
Performers included Bad Bunny, Black Pumas, Cardi B, Brandi Carlile, DaBaby, Mickey Guyton, Haim, Brittany Howard, Miranda Lambert, Lil Baby, Chris Martin, John Mayer, Maren Morris, and Roddy Ricch.
