Grammys Show Power Of ‘Sociable TV’

The news of Whitney Houston’s unfortunate passing on Saturday had a significant impact upon Sunday night’s annual CBS Grammy Awards telecast ratings, particularly at the local level. The 24.9 average household rating for the 25 LPM markets was noticeably higher than the national rating of 21.7.

The proximity of the broadcast to Houston’s death allowed the broadcast audience an opportunity to share in a communal social moment with the artists, as they simultaneously processed the immediacy of the shocking news. The impact this had was evident on a market by market basis, as 20 of the 25 LPM markets delivered higher household ratings than the national broadcast.

The NY LPM household rating of 32.3 was a 33% increase over the 2011 market rating — so high, in fact, that it nearly equaled the 33.4 New York household rating of the NFC Divisional playoff game between New York and Green Bay. Charlotte and Orlando had the highest local market HH increases, both over 84% vs. 2011. Charlotte’s year-to-year adult 25-54 rating doubled, to 18.7.

Sunday’s impromptu memorial Grammys represented a 24% increase in live household ratings when compared to Houston’s 1994 Grammy coming out party, winning Album of the Year for The Bodyguard soundtrack.

The potential for a powerful, raw, and emotional television broadcast also drove people to heavily talk about the Grammy broadcast, dominating the week’s social media TV comments. According to The Social Guide, which tracks online social comments, 80% of the week’s comments related to the Grammys, coming in a flurry of activity at the end of the measured week.

At this week’s ANA Conference Nadine McHugh, VP of global media for Colgate-Palmolive Co., underscored this dynamic, when she said that “social TV is really sociable.” The strong ratings deliveries from the Grammys from these local markets demonstrated where the viewers were in seeking an extended social experience.