Newsmakers

Newsmakers

Grammy ratings slip

NEW YORK

After a very strong five-year run as a winter music attraction, viewership for the Grammy Awards dipped to 24.8 million this year on British soul singer Sam Smith’s big night.

It was the smallest Grammy audience since 2009, according to the Nielsen company. The audience was above 28 million in both of the past two years, soaring to 39.9 million in 2012, when it aired shortly after the death of Whitney Houston.

Smith won three top Grammys — for best song and record, as well as best new artist.

The show was stuffed with performances from the likes of AC/DC, Madonna, Beyonce and Hozier.

The Grammys undoubtedly were hurt by the return of “The Walking Dead,” television’s most popular drama for young people, which started a new season Sunday with 15.6 million viewers. The debut of AMC’s “Better Call Saul,” the “Breaking Bad” prequel, had 6.9 million viewers Sunday.

For the week of Feb. 2-8, the top 10 shows, their networks and viewerships: “Grammy Awards,” CBS, 24.82 million; “NCIS,” CBS, 18.64 million; “The Big Bang Theory,” CBS, 17.09 million; “NCIS: New Orleans,” CBS, 16.52 million; “The Walking Dead,” AMC, 15.64 million; “Mom,” CBS, 11.65 million; “Empire,” Fox, 11.47 million; “Blue Bloods,” CBS, 11.32 million; “American Idol” (Wednesday), Fox, 11.21 million; “Criminal Minds,” CBS, 10.48 million.

Associated Press