The
57th
edition
of
the
Grammy
Awards
gala
was
watched
by
25.3
million
television
viewers,
Nielsen
reported
on
Monday.
This
is
the
smallest
audience
for
the
top
music
industry
ceremony
since
2009.
The
figure
was
11
percent
below
the
number
of
viewers
last
year
and
there
were
14
percent
fewer
viewers
in
the
demographic
grouping
that
is
of
greatest
interest
to
advertisers,
namely
the
18-45
age
group.
Six
years
ago,
the
Grammys
were
viewed
by
19
million
people,
a
number
that
contrasts
with
the
more
than
40
million
viewers
who
turned
on
their
TVs
to
view
the
galas
in
2012
and
in
1984,
the
year
that
Michael
Jackson
cleaned
up
with
"Thriller".
The
apparent
declining
interest
in
the
Grammys
contrasts
with
the
heavy
viewership
attracted
by
two
series
on
the
AMC
channel.
The
debut
broadcast
of
the
drama
"Better
Call
Saul",
a
series
focusing
on
one
of
the
secondary
characters
in
the
popular
series
"Breaking
Bad",
was
viewed
by
6.9
million
people,
making
it
the
most
successful
debut
in
the
history
of
US
cable
television.
Those
numbers,
however,
were
exceeded
by
the
return
of
"The
Walking
Dead",
a
series
about
zombies
that
returned
to
the
small
screen
with
the
second
batch
of
fifth-season
episodes
and
attracted
15.6
million
viewers.
For
"The
Walking
Dead",
this
is
the
third-best
viewership
figure
since
its
inception,
a
level
only
exceeded
by
those
achieved
by
the
opening
episodes
of
the
fourth
and
fifth
seasons
in
2013
and
2014.