Grammy telecast beats competition, but ratings remain on the low side

The 50th Annual Grammy Awards telecast easily bested its strike-deflated competition Sunday night, although the ceremony was still among the least-watched of recent years.

With performances by top acts such as Alicia Keys (who opened the show singing a duet alongside an old Frank Sinatra clip of “Learning the Blues”) and troubled British singer Amy Winehouse (who appeared via satellite), CBS’ 3 1/2 -hour Grammys delivered an average of 17.5 million total viewers, a 12% decline compared with last year, according to early figures from Nielsen Media Research.

Grammy ratings tend to fluctuate depending on the popularity of the nominees and the level of competition from other shows, ranging from a recent low of 17 million (2006) to a high of 29.9 million (1993). This year, the writers strike meant the other networks stuck mainly with low-rated repeats, such as NBC’s “American Gladiators” and Fox’s “The Simpsons.”