Ratings nothing to sing about

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, Carrie Underwood and Amy Winehouse, CBS’ 3 1/2 -hour Grammys delivered an average of 17.5 million 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).

-- Scott Collins