By David Bauder, Media Writer
NEW YORK (AP) --Despite a night of feel-good vibes and performances by the music industry's top acts, the Grammy Awards barely moved the needle as a television attraction.
The show reached just under 9.6 million viewers on Sunday, the Nielsen company said. That's a 4% increase over 2021's broadcast, a more intimate affair because of the pandemic, and the smallest-ever audience for the Grammys by a wide margin.
Any year-to-year viewership increase is usually a cause for celebration in today's television world. But that has to be considered a disappointing showing when you consider the previous week's Academy Awards increased its audience by 58% over 2021.
Jon Batiste was the biggest winner at the Grammys on CBS, which featured performances by Billie Eilish, Olivia Rodrigo, BTS, Chris Stapleton, Justin Bieber and others.
"Don't even think of it as an awards show," host Trevor Noah said at one point. "Think of it as a concert where we're giving out awards."
On the sports front, the much-awaited NCAA Final Four contest between Duke and North Carolina reached a total of 16.25 million people Saturday night over several Turner cable networks, Nielsen said.
Sunday's NCAA championship game in women's basketball, won by South Carolina over Connecticut, was seen by 4.47 million people on ESPN.
CBS won the week in primetime, averaging 5.3 million viewers. ABC had 3.2 million, NBC had 2.4 million, Fox had 2.1 million, Univision had 1.5 million, Ion Television had 1 million and Telemundo had 920,000.
Fox News Channel was the most-watched cable network in primetime, averaging 2.5 million viewers. TBS had 1.99 million, ESPN had 1.67 million, TNT had 1.47 million and HGTV had 1.1 million.
ABC's "World News Tonight" won the evening news ratings race with an average of 8.4 million viewers. NBC's "Nightly News" had 7 million viewers and the "CBS Evening News" had 5 million.
For the week of March 28-April 3, the top 20 primetime programs, their networks and viewerships:
1. NCAA Men's Basketball Tournament: Duke vs. North Carolina, TBS, 9.87 million.
2. "Grammy Awards" (8 to 10:53 p.m. Eastern), CBS, 9.59 million.
3. "Grammy Awards" (10:54 to 11:30 p.m.), CBS, 8.76 million.
4. "FBI," CBS, 7.58 million.
5. "NCAA Pregame Show," TBS, 7.24 million.
6. "Young Sheldon," CBS, 6.93 million.
7. "NCIS," CBS, 6.83 million.
8. "60 Minutes," CBS, 6.48 million.
9. NCAA Men's Basketball Tournament: Duke vs. North Carolina, Turner, 6.38 million.
10. "Ghosts," CBS, 6.23 million.
11. "FBI: International," CBS, 6.22 million.
12. "NCIS: Hawai'i," CBS, 6.13 million.
13. "FBI: Most Wanted," CBS, 5.84 million.
14. "Blue Bloods," CBS, 5.68 million.
15. "American Idol" (Monday), ABC, 5.66 million.
16. "Survivor," CBS, 5.63 million.
17. "The Neighborhood," CBS, 5.42 million.
18. "Bob Hearts Abishola," CBS, 5.13 million.
19. "United States of Al," CBS, 5.02 million.
20. "911," Fox, 4.97 million.
Jean Smart, Ariana Grande, Michael Keaton among hosts for “SNL” season 50
Fresh off her Emmys win, Jean Smart will kick off the landmark 50th season of "Saturday Night Live."
NBC on Thursday announced the lineup of hosts for the season, which premieres Sept. 28. Joining Smart on the first show will be Jelly Roll as the musical act. He was also at the Emmys, singing during the ceremony's in memoriam segment.
It will be Smart's first time hosting "SNL."
Comedian Nate Bargatze will host on Oct. 5, with Coldplay as the musical guest.
Ariana Grande will host Oct. 12, with musical guest Stevie Nicks.
"Beetlejuice" star Michael Keaton will host on Oct. 19, the last show before Halloween, and Billie Eilish will be that night's musical guest.
The host on Nov. 2 will be "SNL" alum John Mulaney, with breakout sensation Chappell Roan as the music guest.
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