New, young artists helped CBS Sunday night, as ratings for the “51st Annual Grammy Awards” jumped from a year ago. Meanwhile, Katie Couric’s interview of US Airways Captain Chesley “Sully” Sullenberger about his dramatic landing in the Hudson River boosted “60 Minutes” as well and gave the Eye network a big night.
Fans of Miley Cyrus and Taylor Swift probably don’t care that the Grammys have been around for more than half a century. But those fans gave CBS big numbers in young demos as the Grammys produced across-the-board double digit percentage increases, according to Nielsen preliminary live plus same day ratings for Sunday.
The Grammy Awards telecast (8:00-11:30 PM) was first in households (11.3/18), viewers (19.05m), adults 25-54 (7.8/18), adults 18-49 (7.4/14) and adults 18-34 (6.9/19). Compared to last year’s ceremony, the awards show was up +10% in both households (from 10.3/16) and adults 25-54 (from 7.1/16), +14% in adults 18-49 (from 6.5/16), +23% in adults 18-34 (from 5.6/15) and added +1.87m viewers (from 17.18m, +11%).
"The Recording Academy put on quite a show — an unprecedented 24 performances and a range of artists that appealed to tweens, teens, young adults and boomers," said Jack Sussman, Executive Vice President, Specials, Music and Live Events, CBS Entertainment.
The lead-in wasn’t bad either, as “60 Minutes” featured Katie Couric’s interview with Capt. Chesley (Sully) Sullenberger and the crew of US Airways Flight 1549, who then met with some of the survivors.
60 Minutes was first in households (10.5/17), viewers (16.80m), adults 25-54 (4.4/11) and second in adults 18-49 (3.1/09, -0.1 behind NBC’s tentative football delivery). This is 60 Minutes’ best households and viewers delivery since December 14, 2008, CBS said, and best adults 25-54 and adults 18-49 performances since January 11, 2009.
For the night, CBS was first in households (11.3/18), viewers (18.96m), adults 25-54 (7.1/16), adults 18-49 (6.5/16) and adults 18-34 (5.7/16).
ABC was also bragging about its Sunday ratings as well, taking 2nd place in the 18-49 demo despite NBC having the 2009 NFL Pro Bowl run over into primetime. The Alphabet net announced celebrity contestants for the next “Dancing With the Stars” throughout the evening.
“Opposite a Grammy Awards-boosted CBS, ABC took a solid second-place on Sunday night, beating out third-place NBC with its 2009 NFL Pro Bowl overrun into the first hour of prime by 3.7 million viewers and by 94% in Adults 18-49. In Total Viewers and Adults 18-49, ABC posted its best Sunday numbers in 9 weeks – since 12/7/08. Returning with its first original broadcast in 3 weeks, ABC’s Desperate Housewives qualified as Sunday’s #1 entertainment series telecast in Total Viewers and Adults 18-49 for the 13th time in 14 original broadcasts this season,” ABC said of its Sunday numbers.
