Grammy Awards 2021 early ratings show a record low viewership
Early numbers reveal an average of 7.88 million viewers on Sunday during the CBS telecast
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Early ratings for the 63rd annual Grammy Awards are in, and they are reportedly the lowest in the telecast's history.
According to Nielsen Live + Same Day fast-affiliate numbers, the 2021 Grammys earned an average of 7.88m viewers on Sunday (14 March) during the CBS telecast. Final numbers will be in later today (15 March) when West Coast viewership stats come in.
By comparison, last year's Grammys earned 18.7m viewers, and the 2019 show had 19.9m viewers.
According to Variety, the least-watched Grammys was in 2006, when the show went without a host, earning 17m viewers.
Last night's Grammy Awards, despite being held in a socially distanced, pandemic-friendly format, featured live and pre-taped performances from more than 22 musicians, including Bad Bunny, Black Pumas, Cardi B, Brandi Carlile, Mickey Guyton, Haim, Brittany Howard, Miranda Lambert, Lil Baby, Chris Martin, John Mayer, Maren Morris, and Roddy Ricch.
READ MORE: Grammys 2021: 5 key moments from the historic awards ceremony
The show was also hosted by Daily Show leader Trevor Noah.
The ceremony also marked the turning of a few pages of Grammys history, with Beyoncé becoming the female artist with the most trophies, Taylor Swift becoming the first woman to score three wins in the Album of the Year category, and Harry Styles taking home his first Grammy.
The show was originally supposed to air on 31 January but was rescheduled to March due to a surge in coronavirus cases in Los Angeles.
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