• Home
  • Latest
  • Fortune 500
  • Finance
  • Tech
  • Leadership
  • Lifestyle
  • Rankings
  • Multimedia

Trendingnow

1

Jeff Bezos wants the bottom half of earners to pay zero income tax—he says nurses making just $75K should save $12K a year

2

Jamie Dimon said the American Dream was slipping away. JPMorgan just put $40 million on the table to fix it

3

Current price of oil as of May 27, 2026

1

Jeff Bezos wants the bottom half of earners to pay zero income tax—he says nurses making just $75K should save $12K a year

2

Jamie Dimon said the American Dream was slipping away. JPMorgan just put $40 million on the table to fix it

3

Current price of oil as of May 27, 2026
Arts & EntertainmentGrammy Awards

Grammys’ Audience Plummets to a New Low

By
Tom Huddleston Jr.
Tom Huddleston Jr.
Down Arrow Button Icon
By
Tom Huddleston Jr.
Tom Huddleston Jr.
Down Arrow Button Icon
February 16, 2016, 12:15 PM ET
The 58th GRAMMY Awards - Press Room
Photograph by Jason LaVeris—FilmMagic/Getty Images

UPDATE: This article has been updated to include time-adjusted ratings viewership for the 58th Annual Grammy Awards.

Some people may have missed out on parts of last night’s Grammy Awards due to technical difficulties with CBS’ live stream, but the network has no such excuse for yet another drop-off in television viewership.

About 24.95 million people tuned in to watch Taylor Swift win Album of the Year (while throwing some Kanye West shade) on Monday night’s telecast of the 58th Annual Grammy Awards on CBS (CBS), which marks a 1.4% drop from last year’s total of 25.3 million, according to Nielsen’s time-adjusted ratings. And, that number presumably includes online viewers, since CBS said last week that Nielsen would track viewership for the Grammys live stream and incorporate that information into its television ratings. The year-over-year ratings dip also means that last night’s show pulled in the lowest TV ratings for a Grammys telecast since 2009, when just over 19 million people watched the event.

Few young people are watching

More Nielsen numbers show that last night’s Grammys also experienced a decline in terms of younger viewers, as last night’s show posted only a 7.7 rating among people between the ages of 18- and 49-years-old after the 2015 program pulled in a rating of 8.5 last year. (To explain, that rating means that 7.7% of all 18-49 viewers in the U.S. watched the Grammys last night.)

One interesting ratings factor to note is that this year’s Grammy Awards were held on a Monday night on account of the long, President’s Day weekend as well as the fact that Valentine’s Day fell on a Sunday this year. While most network awards shows air on Sunday nights, CBS seems to have decided that the extended holiday weekend justified pushing the event back by one night. At least one positive effect of the move, according to Deadline, is that CBS saw a 184% ratings jump from the same Monday night a year ago, in terms of metered market numbers.

The good news for CBS is that the network easily beat out its competition in last night’s Monday prime time lineup. In terms of other programming starting at 8 p.m. EST, ABC’s (DIS) The Bachelor pulled in nearly 7.2 million viewers over its two-hour airtime, while Fox’s (FOX) The X-Files got about 7.1 million to finish second and third, respectively, in the night’s ratings race.

The Grammys aren’t the only award show experiencing falling ratings in recent years, as the ratings for last year’s Academy Awards dropped 16% but the show still drew 36.6 million viewers. What’s more, despite the live stream’s issues and another year of declining TV ratings, The Hollywood Reporter points out that the Grammys typically remains the second-highest rated award show event of each year, after the Oscars. And, the Grammys have already beat out last month’s Golden Globes on NBC (18.5 million viewers) to be the most-watched award show so far this year.

About the Author
By Tom Huddleston Jr.
See full bioRight Arrow Button Icon

Latest in Arts & Entertainment

Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025

Most Popular

Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Fortune Secondary Logo
Rankings
  • 100 Best Companies
  • Fortune 500
  • Global 500
  • Fortune 500 Europe
  • Most Powerful Women
  • World's Most Admired Companies
  • See All Rankings
  • Lists Calendar
Sections
  • Finance
  • Fortune Crypto
  • Features
  • Leadership
  • Health
  • Commentary
  • Success
  • Retail
  • Mpw
  • Tech
  • Lifestyle
  • CEO Initiative
  • Asia
  • Politics
  • Conferences
  • Europe
  • Newsletters
  • Personal Finance
  • Environment
  • Magazine
  • Education
Customer Support
  • Frequently Asked Questions
  • Customer Service Portal
  • Privacy Policy
  • Terms Of Use
  • Single Issues For Purchase
  • International Print
Commercial Services
  • Advertising
  • Fortune Brand Studio
  • Fortune Analytics
  • Fortune Conferences
  • Business Development
  • Group Subscriptions
About Us
  • About Us
  • Press Center
  • Work At Fortune
  • Terms And Conditions
  • Site Map
  • About Us
  • Press Center
  • Work At Fortune
  • Terms And Conditions
  • Site Map
  • Facebook icon
  • Twitter icon
  • LinkedIn icon
  • Instagram icon
  • Pinterest icon

Latest in Arts & Entertainment

suerken
CommentaryRestaurants
Wendy’s U.S. President: the CEO burger battles exposed a truth every brand leader needs to hear
By Pete SuerkenMay 28, 2026
58 minutes ago
Independent book stores are growing as people look for community in local spaces
Retailbooks
Independent book stores are growing as people look for community in local spaces
By The Associated Press and Hillel ItalieMay 28, 2026
2 hours ago
phone
InvestingMarketing
Gen Z’s Joe Camel moment: how prediction markets learned to speak in memes
By Kaitlyn Huamani, Nick Lichtenberg and The Associated PressMay 28, 2026
3 hours ago
Hilary Duff with commencement regalia
SuccessCareers
Despite having a $25 million net worth, Hilary Duff thinks saying yes too much to opportunities actually hurt her career
By Preston ForeMay 27, 2026
22 hours ago
new
Big TechObituary
Donald Newhouse saw the internet coming in 2004. His newspapers still weren’t ready
By Scott Mayerowitz and The Associated PressMay 27, 2026
23 hours ago
pp
PoliticsElections
Graham Platner runs controversial ad during Red Sox game vowing to ‘reverse the private equity curse’
By Patrick Whittle, Kimberlee Kruesi, Kyle Hightower and The Associated PressMay 26, 2026
2 days ago

Most Popular

Jeff Bezos wants the bottom half of earners to pay zero income tax—he says nurses making just $75K should save $12K a year
Success
Jeff Bezos wants the bottom half of earners to pay zero income tax—he says nurses making just $75K should save $12K a year
By Preston ForeMay 21, 2026
7 days ago
Jamie Dimon said the American Dream was slipping away. JPMorgan just put $40 million on the table to fix it
Banking
Jamie Dimon said the American Dream was slipping away. JPMorgan just put $40 million on the table to fix it
By Nick LichtenbergMay 27, 2026
1 day ago
Current price of oil as of May 27, 2026
Personal Finance
Current price of oil as of May 27, 2026
By Joseph HostetlerMay 27, 2026
1 day ago
Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang admits he criticizes everything his 42,000-plus employees show him: ‘You can’t go a day without some criticism’
Success
Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang admits he criticizes everything his 42,000-plus employees show him: ‘You can’t go a day without some criticism’
By Preston ForeMay 26, 2026
2 days ago
Techlash grows in education: 'My daughter went to middle school and was sent home with a screen addiction in her backpack'
North America
Techlash grows in education: 'My daughter went to middle school and was sent home with a screen addiction in her backpack'
By Jocelyn Gecker and The Associated PressMay 26, 2026
2 days ago
The river that supplies 40 million Americans is down to 23% — and about to make a $25 million bet on one fish
Environment
The river that supplies 40 million Americans is down to 23% — and about to make a $25 million bet on one fish
By Dorany Pineda, Brittany Peterson and The Associated PressMay 27, 2026
23 hours ago

© 2026 Fortune Media IP Limited. All Rights Reserved. Use of this site constitutes acceptance of our Terms of Use and Privacy Policy | CA Notice at Collection and Privacy Notice | Do Not Sell/Share My Personal Information
FORTUNE is a trademark of Fortune Media IP Limited, registered in the U.S. and other countries. FORTUNE may receive compensation for some links to products and services on this website. Offers may be subject to change without notice.