Viewership for the Grammys slipped to 15.4 million on Sunday night, according to Nielsen, a 9 percent decline compared with last year’s ceremony.
The viewership drop snaps a three-year streak for the Grammys. Ratings steadily increased during that period, culminating with nearly 17 million viewers for last year’s show. Ratings had started to climb after 2021, when a stripped-down pandemic ceremony saw its audience fall to roughly nine million viewers.
Even with the decline this year, the Grammys, which aired on CBS and streamed on Paramount+, is well positioned to be one of the most-watched entertainment shows of 2025. And its ratings among adults under the age of 50 declined only modestly.
Sunday’s event was certainly not lacking for megawatt attractions. Taylor Swift embraced Beyoncé while presenting her with the best country album award; Beyoncé also won album of the year for the first time in her career, for “Cowboy Carter.” Chappell Roan, Sabrina Carpenter, Charli XCX, Benson Boone and Doechii gave spirited live performances. Lady Gaga and Bruno Mars performed a duet of “California Dreamin’” in a ceremony that largely paid tribute to the victims of the recent Los Angeles wildfires. (The Recording Academy, which administers the Grammys, said that it raised more than $24 million in donations for wildfire relief.)
Critics applauded the production, with Variety calling it the best Grammys “in years.”
Grammys producers had cautioned before the event that they did not expect a ratings bump this year. Given the devastation of the wildfires, the Grammys delayed its annual marketing blitz in the run-up to the event.
Still, the ratings decline could be a warning sign for the coming Academy Awards, which will air on ABC and stream on Hulu on March 2. Ratings for awards shows have generally been on the upswing since 2022, and the Oscars is no exception: It has had three consecutive years of ratings growth, leading to last year’s audience of 19.5 million viewers.
But the Grammys are the second major awards show to see a decline this year. The Golden Globes ratings slipped to 9.3 million viewers last month, Nielsen said, nearly a million viewers shy of last year’s event.
The Oscars, traditionally the highest-rated awards show, commanded $80 million in advertising revenue for ABC last year, while the Grammys brought in $47 million, according to Guideline, an advertising data firm.
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