Grammy Awards TV audience plunges by more than 6 million

Jan 31, 2018 06:00 am

Grammy Awards TV audience plunged by more than six million viewers, CBS said, after the show was criticised for political jibes and wins for Bruno Mars at the expense of innovative rapper Kendrick Lamar.

Citing Nielsen data, CBS said 19.8 million Americans tuned in for the 31/2-hour broadcast, compared to last year's 26.1 million.

Sunday's show got generally poor reviews. USA Today called the Grammys an "out of touch embarrassment" while host Kendrick Lamar was lambasted on social media for lame jokes.

Some of music's biggest stars, including Taylor Swift, Ed Sheeran and Beyonce were either not nominated or did not perform. Some of the digs at US President Donald Trump and his policies appeared to have turned some viewers off.

A commentator on Hollywood website Deadline.com noted that "the political ranting and raving made it a good night to watch something else." - REUTERS