CBS crushed the primetime competition on Sunday with the 45th annual Grammy Awards, which rebounded nicely in the ratings from their soft showing a year ago, according to preliminary nationals from Nielsen.
The kudocast, which aired from 8 to roughly 11:30 p.m., averaged an 11.3/29 among adults 18-49 (up 26% year-to-year) and 24.9 million viewers overall (up 31%). These are down a bit from the numbers for two years ago, which were among the best in years.
Opposite the tough competish, Fox's "X-Men" premiere (3.6/8 in adults 18-49) didn't do much, but NBC did OK with its three-hour original movie "First to Die" (4.0/10 in adults 18-49, 15.5 million viewers overall). In terms of overall audience, it's the season's second most-watched telepic.
ABC's two-hour episode of "I'm A Celebrity, Get Me Out of Here" averaged a 3.1/8 in adults 18-49, followed by a second-place 4.2/9 for "Alias." At 10, though, "Dragnet" (3.0/7 in adults 18-49, 8.4 million viewers overall) was overwhelmed by the Grammys and NBC movie.
Preliminary 18-49 primetime averages for the night: CBS, 9.5/23; Fox, 3.8/9; NBC, 3.7/9; ABC, 3.4/8.
In total viewers: CBS, 23.5 million; NBC, 13.8 million; Fox, 9.7 million; ABC, 7.9 million.
Contact Rick Kissell at
rick.kissell@variety.com