Fifty years later, Beatlemania is still a force.
The CBS special “The Beatles: The Night That Changed America – A Grammy Salute” averaged nearly 14 million viewers on Sunday night against stiff competition that included the Olympics, “The Walking Dead” midseason premiere and “Downton Abbey.”
The program was the second most-watched program on broadcast Sunday night behind the Olympics, which drew 25.4 million viewers from 7-11 p.m. The midseason premiere of “The Walking Dead” delivered monstrous ratings, averaging 15.8 million viewers. Ratings for “Downton Abbey” are not yet available, but their last new episode averaged 6.8 million viewers.
By comparison, this year’s Golden Globes telecast averaged nearly 21 million viewers on NBC, while last year’s Oscars snared 40 million viewers and the Grammys averaged 28.5 million viewers last month.
Airing from 8-10:30 p.m., Sunday night’s CBS special marked the 50th anniversary of The Beatles’ first performance in the U.S., on “The Ed Sullivan Show” (on CBS) and included a reunion of the two living Beatles, Paul McCartney and Ringo Starr.
The night also featured covers of the Fab Four’s hit songs by the likes of Maroon 5, Alicia Keys and John Legend, Keith Urban and John Mayer, Pharrell Williams and Brad Paisley, Katy Perry, Ed Sheeran, Imagine Dragons, Stevie Wonder and the Eurythmics.