Grammys Goes Against Recent Trends, Scores High In Ratings

The Grammys is bringing in the numbers!

Although other awards ceremonies like The Critics Choice Awards saw a decline in ratings, the 65th Annual Grammys Awards recorded new heights in viewership and popularity. It also provided Beyoncé with her record-breaking 32nd trophy in her decades-long career.

This year’s ratings would undoubtedly put a spring in CBS’ steps, given the numbers for its Sunday-night telecast of the Grammy Awards. The ceremony brought in an estimated 12.4 million total viewers, shooting up 30% from last year’s event, which had about 9.6 million viewers per the ratings that dropped later that week.

With these early numbers, the Grammys not only earned a spot as the most-watched show of that night but also received the largest audience for the ceremony since 2020. Similarly, the ceremony recorded its biggest live-streaming audience, across Paramount Plus and other CBS platforms, with a 33% bump from last year.

Variety further noted that the telecast got 66 billion potential online impressions, placing it as “the #1 social entertainment event of 2023,” per CBS. So far, 53 million social video clips of content from the show across Paramount and CBS’s various platforms were consumed.

Amid the record-smashing ratings, the 2023 Grammy Awards awarded the night’s Big Four prizes to a string of artists. While Harry Styles’ “Harry’s House” won album of the year, Bonnie Raitt’s “Just Like That” won song of the year, and Lizzo’s “About Damn Time” won record of the year.

Jazz singer Samara Joy was also not left as she received the award for best new artist. Despite getting edged out by Lizzo, Raitt, and Styles, Beyoncé won four awards, becoming the most awarded artist in the Grammys’ six-decade history with 32 nods.

The “Love on Top” hitmaker walked home with nods for the best dance/electronic recording, dance/electronic album, R&B performance, and best R&B song. Her wins tied her with Christian group Maverick City Music, with Raitt, Kendrick Lamar, and Brandi Carlile coming in next with three Grammys each.

While Adele earned seven nominations, she only won one for pop music performance, and Taylor Swift won for the best music video after getting four nominations. Mary J. Blige, who earned seven nominations, walked away empty-handed.

Threepeat host and comedian Trevor Noah emceed the ceremony, and it was electrified by performances from Bad Bunny, Queen Latifah, Lil Wayne, GloRilla, Sam Smith, Jay-Z, John Legend, Rick Ross, and DJ Khaled.

When The CW broadcasted the 28th Annual Critics Choice Awards back in January, early ratings showed that only 900,000 viewers watched it — a low score for a ceremony that glamorous. However, The Blast shared that the low numbers seemed to be in line with last year’s ratings which recorded only 1.1 million viewers watching the ceremony, despite simultaneously airing on The CW and TNT.

The decline in viewership is similar to that of NBC, which garnered only 6.3 million viewers when it aired The Golden Globes on Tuesday, January 11. The number represented a 26% drop from last year’s figures which was 6.9 million. 

The awards show also registered a 1.1 ads rating, marking a 9% decline from 2021. Amid the near-record low, NBC execs stated that the Globes was the “most social special event across all of television season-to-date (linear and streaming), both in terms of social engagements and social video views.”

With these numbers in view, fans expect next year’s show to be worse, considering the controversy trailing the show’s organizers in the last couple of years. In case you missed it, it was alleged that members of The Hollywood Foreign Press Association (HFPA) were engaging in fraudulent financial practices while lacking diversity and representation from the Black community.

The allegations were so strong that instead of holding a top-tier ceremony that they do annually, the nonprofit group hosted a private event, excluding its nominated celebs, last year. 

Hopefully, the HFPA will get its ducks in a row before next year’s ceremony with the help of its recently appointed president, Helen Hoehne. Since her appointment, Hoehne has publicly addressed the accusations against the organization, announcing that they had undergone some reforms.