Grammy special a dud, but ‘Secret Millionaire’ may shine

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To get the jump on the Grammy Awards 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. CBS can only hope for better numbers for the real Grammys in February; this year’s ceremony garnered 17.2 million viewers.

CBS did better with its peekaboo perennial, the ‘Victoria’s Secret Fashion Show,’ which rounded up 8.7 million viewers and won the 10 p.m. timeslot in 18-49, where it was up a big 38% compared with last year.

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, and more people may discover the show down the road.

-- Scott Collins