For the first time in three years, viewership for the Emmy Awards has gone in an upward direction.
The Emmys drew an audience of 6.9 million on ABC on Sunday night, according to Nielsen, a healthy increase following a strike-delayed ceremony in January that drew a low of just over 4 million viewers.
The ratings increase finally follows a trend of other award shows, such as the Oscars and Grammys, which have had viewership gains over the past few years. And it also stops the bleeding for an event that was dangerously approaching the low ratings of the Tony Awards.
Even with the increase, the Emmys has lost a substantial amount of its audience in recent years. As recently as 2018, the event regularly drew more than 10 million people.
Sunday’s telecast had some advantages over the last show. The January ceremony ran head-to-head against an N.F.L. playoff game, and was on the tail end of a frenetic stretch of award shows that included the Golden Globes and the Critics Choice Awards. Sunday’s show was back in the Emmys’ traditional mid-September slot that viewers have come to expect.
The Emmys has long had the unfortunate — but accurate — reputation of being numbingly predictable. Indeed, in recent years, voters have tended to shower the same show (“Schitt’s Creek,” “The White Lotus,” “Ted Lasso,” “Succession”) with award after award. But on Sunday, there was an unusual turn of events: There were numerous upsets.
“The Bear” won four Emmys on Sunday but, in a big surprise, “Hacks” won best comedy. Voters gave “Shogun” best drama honors, but also delivered unexpected wins to shows like “Slow Horses” and “The Morning Show.” “Baby Reindeer” took best limited series, but “True Detective,” “Fargo” and “Ripley” also had wins on Sunday.
Reviews for the telecast, which was hosted by the father-and-son duo of Eugene and Dan Levy, were decidedly mixed. The Los Angeles Times described the telecast as “casually interesting” while Variety called it “humdrum” and Rolling Stone said it was “blah.”
The post Emmy Viewership Rises to 6.9 Million Viewers appeared first on New York Times.
