Grammy Awards - number of viewers 2000-2023

In 2023, 12.4 million Americans watched the Grammy Awards ceremony. This figure marked an increase from the previous year but still represented the third-smallest TV audience in the history of the broadcast.

Throwback to the Grammys’ glory days

The Grammy Awards have suffered viewer losses for the better part of a decade. The show's rankings last peaked in 2012, when an estimated 39 million people tuned in to watch Music's Biggest Night. After that, the format failed to draw the same impressive audience numbers as it did in the early 2010s. But what made the 54th annual Grammy Awards so special? For one, the event incorporated various musical tributes to Whitney Houston, who had died the day before the show. On top of that, the ceremony was hosted by LL Cool J, who was the first Grammys host in seven years.

Spotlight on other awards ceremonies

The Grammys are not the only awards ceremony that has lost viewers and relevance over the past few years. Even the Oscars, Hollywood's most prestigious celebration, have recently failed to draw television viewers' attention. In 2022, the number of Academy Awards viewers stood at 15.36 million, and even though this figure marked a significant improvement compared to 2021, the audience was still only half as big as it was back in 2017. A similar downward trend also unfolded at the Golden Globes, where the number of TV viewers reached an all-time low of around 6.3 million in 2023.