CBS renews Grammy Awards deal for five years

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) – CBS has signed a five-year
extension of its contract to broadcast the Grammy Awards, the
music industry’s highest honors, in a deal that keeps the
annual show at CBS through 2011, the network said on Monday.

No financial terms of the renewal were disclosed. The
Viacom Inc.-owned network has aired the Grammys every year
since 1973 in one of the longest-running broadcast partnerships
on U.S. television.

The existing pact between CBS and the Grammy-sponsoring
National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences was set to
expire after the 2006 awards.

The renewal deal comes five months after the 47th annual
Grammys telecast drew the show’s smallest TV audience in a
decade, averaging 18.8 million viewers on Sunday, Feb. 13, in
tough competition against ABC’s new blockbuster hit “Desperate
Housewives.” The year before, the Grammys fared considerably
better, averaging more than 26 million viewers.

CBS said last month it was moving the 2006 Grammy broadcast
back to mid-week, where the show had been an annual February
“sweeps” staple from 1978 through 2003.

Nielsen ratings for all the entertainment awards shows have
declined over the years. But like the film industry’s Oscars
and the TV industry’s Emmy Awards, the Grammy ceremony is still
regarded as one of the marquee showbiz specials each season.

The 48th annual Grammy Awards will take place on Wednesday,
Feb. 8, 2006, at the Staples Center in Los Angeles.