Moonves
CBS has iced the February sweeps contest in total viewers with some of the hotter Grammy ratings in years.
The "45th Annual Grammy Awards," originating Sunday from New York for the first time in five years, averaged 24.9 million viewers -- the kudocast's fourth largest aud in a decade, according to preliminary nationals from Nielsen.
Show's averages were hurt by extending past 11 o'clock. Ratings peaked in the 9 o'clock half-hour and stayed strong until 11 before fading in the final 30 minutes.
In the key demo of adults 18-49, this year's projected 11.3/29 would rank as the third highest in 10 years, and up 26% year-to-year. This is roughly double the 5.7/13 that ABC's "American Music Awards" drew last month.
In Nielsen's metered-market overnights, the Grammys delivered a big 23.6/32 in Gotham and a 17.1/25 in Los Angeles.
The strong Sunday showing should allow CBS to finish third for the month in adults 18-49, edging out ABC. Based on preliminary estimates through Sunday, Fox led the sweep with three nights to go (5.5/14 in adults 18-49), followed by NBC (4.9/13), CBS (4.1/11) and ABC (4.0/10).
CBS will cruise to victory in total viewers, with its projected 13.8 million well ahead of runner-up NBC's 12.4 million. Fox, with little traction among older viewers, will run third in this category despite its strongest sweeps perf ever.
Schedule stability
Eye topper Leslie Moonves, speaking to reporters on a conference call Monday, labeled the month "the craziest sweeps period ever," in reference to the numerous Michael Jackson specs and unscripted reality shows that spiked the ratings of its competitors, most notably Fox.
Instead, Moonves focused on the stability of his net's sked. With the exception of a rotating wheel of crime shows Friday at 10 to replace canceled drama "Queens Supreme," CBS largely stuck with its regular lineup of programs during the month.
"Our sweeps numbers are much more reflective of our schedule," Moonves said. "The schedule you saw in February is the sked you'll see in the next few months."
Among the month's highlights for CBS was the net's first February sweeps victory on a Thursday (excluding the Olympics) since 1993. Although "CSI" and "Survivor" draw the bigger ratings, it's the improved perf of "Without a Trace" at 10 opposite "ER" that is making the most difference on the night.
CBS also has reasons to cheer in other dayparts, Moonves noted, as ayemer "The Early Show" is enjoying its most competitive position in years and David Letterman's "Late Show" recently topped NBC's "Tonight Show With Jay Leno" on a night for the first time in three years.
Late local news ratings on the network's O&Os are up too, as the Eye's performance in the 10 p.m. hour has improved.
'Dragnet' dragging
Elsewhere on Sunday opposite the Grammys, ABC's "Alias" (second-place 4.2/9 in adults 18-49) held up pretty well, but the net's "Dragnet" (3.0/7) again failed to do much at 10. From 7 to 9, reality skein "I'm A Celebrity, Get Me Out of Here" averaged a prelim 3.1/8 in 18-49.
NBC's movie "First to Die," based on a James Patterson bestseller, proved to be solid counter-programming. Although it did a merely OK 18-49 rating (prelim 4.0/10), its overall audience (15.5 million) is the second largest for any original movie this season -- behind only CBS' "The Christmas Shoes" in December (16.63 million).
Fox was not much of a factor with its preem of "X-Men" (3.6/8 in 18-49).
Contact Rick Kissell at
rick.kissell@variety.com