Image: Taylor Swift accepts the award for Album of the Year for “1989” at the 58th Grammy Awards in Los Angeles, California February 15, 2016. REUTERS/Mario Anzuoni
By Piya Sinha-Roy
LOS ANGELES (Reuters) – Nearly 25 million U.S. viewers tuned in to watch Taylor Swift, Ed Sheeran and Bruno Mars take home the top honours at the annual Grammy Awards ceremony this year, CBS Corp said on Tuesday.
The network, citing figures from Nielsen, said the show, which included numerous performances by music’s biggest names, had the largest audience for any entertainment programme this season.
The overall number dipped from last year’s 25.3 million viewers, which was the smallest TV audience for music’s biggest night since 2009’s 19.1 million viewers.
CBS’s figures do not count the Super Bowl, a sporting event, which drew nearly 112 million viewers on Feb. 7, the most-watched show on U.S. television.
The Grammys come ahead of the annual Oscars ceremony later this month, Hollywood’s biggest night and typically the most-watched entertainment event, drawing more than 36 million U.S. viewers last year. Walt Disney’s ABC television network will broadcast this year’s Academy Awards.
On social media, the Grammys dominated the conversation on Monday night, with 17.2 million tweets mentioning the show, Twitter said. Sheeran’s win for song of the year was the most-tweeted moment, followed by rapper Kendrick Lamar’s socially charged performance.
On Facebook, 21 million people posted about the show, and Lady Gaga’s colourful tribute to late singer David Bowie was the most talked-about moment.
On Instagram, 15 million people discussed the Grammys, and Swift’s photo of herself posing with singer Selena Gomez earned the most ‘likes’ from 2.1 million fans.
(Reporting by Piya Sinha-Roy; Editing by Steve Orlofsky)
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