In a night with few memorable performances or last-minute upsets, the 2018 Grammy Awards saw its television audience shrink by more than 20% as the industry’s biggest stars took turns jabbing President Trump and lecturing viewers on immigration, DACA, and more.
According to Deadline Hollywood, ‘Music’s biggest night’ took a ratings nosedive compared to numbers from just one year ago; with the 60th annual awards ceremony posting a measly 12.7/21 metered rating and dropping 20% from the same broadcast in 2017.
“With a 12.7/21 in metered market ratings, the Recording Academy’s big hootenanny was also way down from the early numbers for the LA-based February 13, 2017 59th annual show. By way down, I mean a just over 20% decline from last year to what looks to be an all-time low for the ceremony,” writes Deadline.
The three-and-a-half-hour broadcast limped across the finish line shortly after 11 p.m. Sunday night, and featured a highly-criticized cameo from doomed Presidential candidate Hillary Clinton.
The pre-recorded video shows the former Secretary of State reading an excerpt from Michael Wolff’s largely discredited, anti-Trump book “Fire and Fury.”