TV Ratings: Whitney Houston, Adele send Grammy numbers soaring on Sunday

Only ABC's 'Once Upon a Time' withstands the onslaught

By Daniel Fienberg Monday, Feb 13, 2012 11:59 AM

Grammys host L.L. Cool J

Credit: Matt Sayles/AP

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Fast National ratings for Sunday, February 12, 2012.

The tragic passing of Whitney Houston and popular success of the unstoppable Adele sent ratings for Sunday night's Grammys telecast soaring for CBS, averaging roughly 39 million viewers in early returns, making it possibly the second most-watched Grammys in history.

Not surprisingly, CBS dominated Sunday night in all measures, though with these numbers you'll have to keep in mind that while the Grammys aired live for much of the country, CBS continued the antiquated tradition of airing them on three-hour delay on the West Coast, which makes all figures very subject to change.

Among adults 18-49, CBS averaged an 11.5 rating, crushing the competition in the key demographic. ABC was a distant second with a 1.9 rating, followed by FOX's 1.7 rating and the 1.5 rating for NBC.

Overall, CBS averaged an estimated 34.51 million viewers and a 19.1 rating.26 share. ABC was pretty far back in second with a 3.8/6 and 6.35 million viewers, beating NBC's 3.3/5 and 5.25 million viewers. FOX averaged 3.55 million viewers and a 2.1/3 for the night.

7 p.m. - The primetime sweep for CBS began in the 7 p.m. hour with 14.55 million viewers and a 2.9 rating among adults 18-49 for "60 Minutes." NBC's "Dateline" averaged 8.35 million viewers and a 2.0 key demo rating for second. ABC's "America's Funniest Home Videos" tied for second in the key demo and averaged 7.76 million viewers for a close third. FOX was fourth with a "Bob's Burgers" repeat (1.91 million viewers and a 0.7 key demo) and a new "The Cleveland Show" (2.73 million viewers and a 1.2 key demo).

8 p.m. - The start of the 54th Annual Grammy Awards averaged 40.68 million viewers and a 13.8 rating among adults 18-49. ABC's "Once Upon a Time" held up impressively against the Grammys onslaught, still averaging a 3.0 key demo rating and a respectable 8.635 million viewers. NBC was third overall with 5.195 million viewers and fourth in the key demo with a 1.2 rating. FOX was fourth overall and third in the key demo with new episodes of "The Simpsons" (4.33 million and a 2.0 key demo) and "Napoleon Dynamite" (3.81 million and a 1.7 key demo rating).

9 p.m. - The Grammys improved to 42.64 million viewers and a 14.9 rating among adults 18-49 in their second hour for CBS. ABC's "Desperate Housewives" drew only 6.35 million viewers for second overall and finished third with a 1.8 key demo rating. FOX was third with "Family Guy" (4.99 million viewers and a 2.5 key demo) and "American Dad" (3.54 million and a 1.7 key demo rating). On NBC, "Fear Factor" drew only 3.32 million viewers and a 1.3 key demo rating.

10 p.m. - CBS closed primetime in first with 40.17 million viewers and a 14.6 rating among adults 18-49 for the Grammys. NBC's "Fear Factor" averaged 4.14 million viewers and a 1.6 key demo rating. On ABC, a new episode of "Pan Am" drew 2.66 million viewers and a 0.7 key demo rating.

All ratings information comes from preliminary Fast National Nielsen data, which includes live and same-day DVR viewing. All numbers are subject to change, particularly in the case of live events.

Daniel Fienberg
Executive Editor

A long-time member of the TCA Board and a longer-time blogger of "American Idol," Dan Fienberg writes about TV, except for when he writes about movies or sometimes writes about the Red Sox. But never music. He would sound stupid talking about music.

Related Searches: Nielsen ratings, TV Ratings, ratings, Sunday, Grammys 2012, Grammys, Once Upon a Time, Desperate Housewives, Pan Am

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Discuss TV Ratings on HitFix Message Boards »

alynch

So if the final numbers are adjusted up, that validates the west-coast delay strategy, right? Or am I misunderstanding how the final adjustments work?
February 13, 2012 at 1:06PM EST Reply to Comment
- ALynch - It's hard to figure what "validate" would necessarily mean. How many West Coast viewers, for example, knew the results and knew the show order and only tuned in for the parts they wanted? It's unclear. Regardless, just as with the Super Bowl, CBS knows what Grammy ratings will be and what they can change, just like ABC with the Oscars and whichever network has the Super Bowl, so they can charge accordingly for ads. It's outmoded 20th Century thinking to delay for the West Coast, but these ratings certainly won't require them to rethink...
  
  -Daniel
  February 13, 2012 at 1:41PM EST
Tedd

Does Hitfix ever publish cable ratings numbers?
February 13, 2012 at 1:35PM EST Reply to Comment
- Tedd - We frequently do ratings for individual cable shows when they're notable (and when they're reported by the networks in question), but never in a format such as this... Cable numbers simply aren't reported in the same way...
  
  -Daniel
  February 13, 2012 at 1:42PM EST
RobL

These ratings posts cry out to be organized in a table of some sort.
February 13, 2012 at 4:41PM EST Reply to Comment

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TV Ratings: Whitney Houston, Adele send Grammy numbers soaring on Sunday

Only ABC's 'Once Upon a Time' withstands the onslaught