Grammy audience drops by a third from 2017

The US television audience for Sunday's Grammy Awards show on CBS Corp. television fell sharply to 17.6 million, early Nielsen ratings data seen by Variety showed on Monday.

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That was a more than 30 per cent drop from 2017 when some 26.1 million television viewers tuned in for the live television broadcast in the biggest audience in two years, Variety reported.

Sunday's 60th anniversary Grammy Awards, staged in New York over three and a half hours, saw R&B singer Bruno Mars win six statuettes, while rapper Kendrick Lamar won five. Jay-Z, who had gone into the show with eight nominations, won nothing.

Final, official audience data for the show will be released later on Monday.