• by Wayne Friedman , February 1, 2010

CBS' "52nd Grammy Awards" saw TV ratings shoot up an eye-opening 35% over the 2009 event -- its best numbers in six years.

Nielsen preliminary results registered a big 26.6 million viewers watching the event, and a stellar 9.8 rating/24 share among 18-49 viewers. This is the second year in the row that the ratings had an increase.

The event posted its best numbers since 2004, when it took in 25.8 million viewers and a 10.6 rating among 18-49 viewers.

Another special event on Sunday -- the NFL Pro Bowl on ESPN -- also did well, grabbing its best numbers in a decade. Analysts say this was the result of some shrewd scheduling, moving the game a week before the Super Bowl. The Pro Bowl took in 12.3 million viewers.

Damage from the special music awards show took ABC's two big Sunday night shows, "Desperate Housewives" and "Brothers & Sisters," to new series lows. "Housewives" was down 3% from its last original episode to a 3.7/8, and "Brothers & Sisters" was off 8% to a 2.4/6.

Also taking a back seat were Fox's younger-skewing animated shows, going well below their seasonal averages. "The Simpsons" earned a 2.4/5, "The Cleveland Show" a 2.2/5, "Family Guy" a 3.2/7 and "American Dad" a 2.5/5.

Among 18-49 viewers for the night, CBS earned an 8.1/20; ABC, a 2.7/6; Fox, a 2.0/5; NBC, a 1.0/2; and Univision, a 0.8/2.