The Primetime Emmy Awards ratings “bounce” is over.
After halting a seven-year ratings decline in 2021, this Monday’s TV broadcast of TV’s biggest night drew just 5.9 million total viewers on NBC, down 24% from the last time to mark an all-time low.
In the demo, the Monday night show earned a 1.1 rating, down sharply from 1.8 last year.
TVLine readers gave the broadcast an average grade of “C”, while Kenan Thompson earned a “D” grade as a host.
The previous all-time Emmys audience record of 6.4 million was set in 2020 by ABC’s first virtual ceremony of the pandemic era. Last year’s Emmycast, on CBS, improved 16% from this nadir.
The last time NBC held the ceremony, in 2018 and also on a Monday night, the audience totaled 10.2 million — which was an all-time low at the time.
Looking at other awards shows this year, the Oscars jumped 60% (to 16.6 million viewers), the Grammys went up a notch (to 8.9 million viewers), and viewership Tony Awards (3.9 million) increased.
Offering significant competition for the Emmys, ABC’s broadcast of the Monday night football match-up between the Seattle Seahawks and the Denver Broncos, which averaged 8 million total viewers.
The only other fresh Monday night broadcast fare, Fox’s Do not forget the lyrics final, ticked up to 1.6 mil and a 0.3.
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The Live + Same Day numbers reported in our review column make not reflect a show’s overall performance, given the increased use of playback via DVR and streaming platforms, as well as out-of-home viewing. Rather, these numbers (Nielsen Rapid Nationals, unless referred to as Finals) are intended to merely illustrate trends or superlatives. Steve Harvey is neither a judge nor a lawyer and simply provides an alternative dispute resolution forum.