UPDATE, 9:28 AM: In updated Nielsen numbers, last night’s Grammy Awards rose a little higher from earlier fast national results. The 55th Grammys pulled in 28.37 million viewers on Sunday. That’s up from the 28.12 million reported earlier and still the show’s second best audience since 1993. Among the key 18-49 demographic, the Grammys also went up from earlier, achieving a 10.1 as opposed to the 10.0 reported before.

PREVIOUSLY, 8:26 AM: Not unexpectedly, the Grammy Awards last night were down from last year’s near record-high. Kicking off with a performance by Taylor Swift, the 55th Grammys (10.0/24) on CBS pulled in 28.12 million viewers Sunday. Although down from the 39.91 million who watched last year and 27% in adults 18-49, Sunday’s 8-11:30 PM broadcast is the second-best audience for the music awards show since 1993. Last year’s Grammys came 24 hours after Whitney Houston died suddenly while in Los Angeles to attend the awards show. Interest in her death and how the Grammys would react in tribute fueled viewership to its second-highest ever. Last year’s results were a 50% leap over the 2011 show’s viewership, which itself had been the best the Grammys had done in a decade. The largest Grammy audience ever was in 1984 with 43.8 million.

In the key 18-49 demo, Sunday’s Grammys results pretty much matched the 2011 show’s ratings. The 2012 Grammys drew a steller 14.1/33 in 18-49.

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ABC started its Sunday primetime with America’s Funniest Home Videos (1.8/5), which had a rise of 38% from its last new show on January 20. A Rise was not what Once Upon A Time (2.2/5) and Revenge (1.4/3) had last night. The former was down 8% from its last original on January 20 and the latter fell 18% from its last new show three weeks ago. The results were series lows for both. ABC ended the night with the ABC News: Revenge For Real (0.8/2) special.

Before the Grammys CBS started the night with 60 Minutes (1.9/2) at 7 PM. The log running news magazine series rose 12% from its last original on January 27. Fox started its Sunday animation block with a Bob’s Burgers (1.0/3) repeat. A new episode of The Cleveland Show (1.3/4) followed, up 8% from its last original on January 27. The Simpsons (2.1/5) was down 9% from its last new episode two week ago and a new Bob’s Burgers (2.1/5) slipped 10% from its last original on January 27. Though the second highest rated show of the night after the Grammys among Adults 18-49, Sunday’s Family Guy (2.4/5) fell 17% from its last new show two weeks back. American Dad (2.0/4) was also down from its January 27 show, dipping 9%. It was mostly encores and specials on NBC last night. Debuting in the time period, Dateline (1.2/3) was down 20% from its 8 PM airing on Friday. That was followed by another airing of Betty White’s 2nd Annual 90th Birthday Party (0.6/1) and a two-hour Saturday Night Live in the 80s: Lost and Found (0.8/2) 

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