• by Wayne Friedman , February 13, 2012

Rocketing ratings for the "The "54th Annual Grammy Awards" --  driven in large part by news of the death of superstar singer Whitney Houston -- gave CBS its best results for the music show in nearly 30 years.

Nielsen preliminary results put the "Grammy Awards" at 39.9 million viewers -- which is the second-largest audience ever for the show. (The largest was in 1984). These numbers were up 50% from last year's 26.7 million viewers.

The Grammys -- long the second-highest entertainment award show -- actually beat the "The Academy Awards" 2011 results of 37.9 million viewers. Typically, the Oscars are the second-highest-rated TV program of the year, next to the Super Bowl.

Looking at the key demographic group -- 18-49 viewers -- the Grammys grabbed an eye-popping 14.1 rating/32 share, up 41% versus a year ago, and 27% higher among younger 18-34 viewers to 12.1/31.

Sunday's Grammy Awards got a huge spike in interest over the weekend on the news of the death of Houston on Saturday. Analysts also said the return over singer Adele from vocal cord surgery --- and her six Grammy awards on the night --  also drove increased viewership.

Some of the show''s biggest numbers happen in the first hour of the three hour-plus show -- 41.2 million viewers and a 14.4 rating among 18-49 viewers.

CBS even got a lift earlier in the evening for "60 Minutes" at 7 p.m., scoring a 2.9 rating/8 share among 18-49 viewers, which was almost double the numbers of a recent original outing.

For the night, CBS earned a 11.8/30; ABC, 1.9/4; Fox, 1.7/4; NBC, 1.5/4; and Univision, a 1.1/2.