Grammy nods don’t top charts

To get the jump on the Grammy Awards on Feb. 8, CBS tried a first-ever experiment Wednesday, devoting an hourlong special to a prime-time concert featuring stars such as Christina Aguilera along with an announcement of the major nominations.

Audiences didn’t seem thrilled. An average of 7.1 million total viewers tuned in, according to early data from Nielsen Media Research, which landed CBS in fourth place for the time period (it was third among viewers ages 18 to 49). Worse, the audience tumbled 22% from the first half-hour to the second, a sure sign of viewer noninterest.

But maybe the night’s most interesting performance came from Fox’s heart-tugging new reality series, “Secret Millionaire,” which started out slow (6.7 million total viewers for its first hour) but built steadily all night among young adults, finally averaging a 2.6 rating/7 share for the two episodes aired. It wasn’t a world-beating performance by any means, but the steady growth means that viewers liked what they saw.

-- Scott Collins