• by Wayne Friedman , February 11, 2019

CBS pulled in 19.9 million Nielsen TV viewers -- up slightly from a year ago -- and $95 million in national TV advertising revenue, according to Kantar Media's preliminary estimates and viewing and advertising research.

CBS viewing results showed “The 61st Annual Grammy Awards” earned a Nielsen preliminary 6.7 rating among 25-54 viewers and a 5.6 rating among the 18-49 demographic. 

Last year, “The Grammys” pulled in 19.8 million Nielsen viewers -- down 24% from 26.1 million viewers in 2017.

In terms of media-buying, prices for the Grammys were estimated at $1.2 million to $1.3 million per 30-second commercial.

Last year, U.S. advertising revenues totaled $96 million, according to Kantar Media -- up from $90 million in 2017.

Among paid TV advertisers on the three-hour-plus telecast, Walt Disney Pictures aired five commercial airings for a total of five minutes, according to iSpot.tv, while Google Phones had four airings, at four minutes, Apple Music had seven airings at 3.5 minutes and Lincoln Motor Co. had six airings, at 3.5 minutes.

McDonald's was next with five airings, at 2.5 minutes, followed by MasterCard with four spots at three minutes; Xeljanz with three airings at three minutes, PepsiCo with four airings at two minutes; and Intuit with two airings at two minutes.

CBS Corp. promos across its business showed CBS Television Network airing 39 messages (17 different creatives), followed by Showtime with five airings and CBS Films with two airings.