Final Ratings: Emmys Hit New Lows, Down 33 Percent From Last Year
The 71st Primetime Emmy Awards delivered an all-time low in the ratings, marking a sixth straight year of decline for TV’s biggest night.
Per Nielsen fast finals, Fox‘s Sunday-night telecast drew 6.9 million total viewers along with a 1.6 demo rating, down 33 percent from last year (when NBC hosted the ceremony on a Monday). Compared to the Emmys‘ most recent Sunday outing (2017 on CBS, and facing Sunday Night Football), the numbers were down 39 and 35 percent.
Game of Thrones was this year’s big winner, taking home a record-tying 12 trophies, followed by HBO’s Chernobyl (with 10 wins), Amazon’s The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel (eight) and Amazon’s Fleabag (six, four of which came in major categories including Best Comedy and lead comedy actress).
In fact, cable and streaming programs accounted for 86 percent of this year’s Emmys, leaving broadcast-TV to claim the remaining 14 percent, or 18 out of 132. (In 2018, the Big 5 grabbed 18 percent of the golden pie.) NBC led this year’s pack with seven total wins (five of which went to Saturday Night Live), followed by Fox and CBS (four each), The CW’s two and ABC’s one (Live in Front of a Studio Audience won Variety Special).
Elsewhere on Sunday:
NBC | Sunday Night Football (16.3 mil/5.4) is up a tick from last week’s fast nationals.
CBS | Pending adjustment due to NFL overrun, Big Brother (5.8 mil/1.3) is up week-to-week.
NEXT SUNDAY: 60 Minutes, America’s Funniest Home Videos, Bob’s Burgers, Capt. Holt’s beloved Durrells in Corfu, Family Guy, God Friended Me, NCIS: Los Angeles, Poldark, Robot Chicken, The Rookie, Shark Tank and The Simpsons return, plus the series premieres of Bless the Harts and Godfather of Harlem.
I’ve said it here before…there are too many shows on ‘TV’ for just one awards show. When there were 3 networks, the show made sense. I feel the broadcast shows show go and make their own “ACE” awards!!
I agree with you. They pick a handful of shows, and even then, one show may have 4 people in
the same category. There are way too many terrific shows available on TV now, to narrow it down
to a few. Maybe it’s time to end these awards shows People just aren’t watching anymore.
I am a big tv buff and watch at least 30+ shows over the calendar year, maybe more. Yet, only one or two of them are ever even recognized by the emmys.
So that’s why I tend to agree with a few other responders who said there are two many shows now and the reality of them is that most go unrecognized.
With several hundred shows across streaming and broadcast, viewers have become more diversified in what they watch, and many even watching after a season has aired now on streaming itself. Tuning into an awards show where most of the viewers shows they watch, if not all of their shows, Are not even nominated seems pointless to spend three hours seeing people get awards and thank their agents and such. Personally, I have better things to do with my time.
My hunch is that eventually there won’t be enough viewers to justify airing these awards shows in a coveted time slot in prime time on a major channel.
Brilliant assessment . I stopped watching years ago when The Emmys continued to overlook the most brilliant show on television at that time: “ The Americans”. Patricia Arquette is a brilliant actress but she should not have been nominated in two categories while other worthy performances got zero love. The system is archaic and must either be revamped or abolished.
Really? More award shows?
Please, no! There are far too many of them already. I’ve never understood the attraction in watching groups of people congratulating themselves.
So true!! I was listening to Sirius radio and one of the DJ’s said as an intro “While Hollywood is patting itself on the back this weekend…” I was laughing so hard because that’s exactly what it is!
Agreed! There are too many awards shows. They take too long. I don’t watch any of them.
And somehow the same show are awarded year after year. There’s not point to watch is everyone knows who is winning.
Not surprising opposite football and the fact that no scripted show on broadcast TV won any of the major awards. Though I think the major reason rating continue to slide is there are so many other choices of things to watch. Is it that interesting watching famous people thank their agents and families?
Why, who were the winners thanking just six years ago when the Emmys drew 18 million viewers…? At awards shows, people get thanked.
Emmys also had more entertainment in the past.
1.The Jimmy Fallon /Glee opening
2. Stewie from Family Guy interacted with the Cast of Modern Family 3.
3. Stewie and Brian opening the Emmys with an original song, “If you want it you can find it on TV.”
There was very little entertainment on the show this year and what there was wasn’t very funny . With no live orchestra or host it also seemed to be done on the cheap.
Can’t blame ratings on content no one knew to expect or not.
Matt, you do realize smart, sensible, informed answers have no place on the Interwebs and the Googles.
Wouldn’t ratings be affected by people who tuned in, watched for 1/2 hour, lost interest , changed the channel or decided to read a book? Perhaps not, as I am clearly no expert. Whether people tuned out because they didn’t know the shows nominated or what went on between award announcements, I am sure it all contributed to lower ratings. It seems that people are more interested in the most popular and most available and not the best. When the best and most popular are different, you have lower ratings. That is true of all awards not just the Emmys.
So what you are saying is that audiences of popular shows that are available do not have the ability to tell “best” shows? That broadcast shows never have “best” content? Or that only streaming or cable shows have the best but not the popular? Hmmm sounds like usual excuses for bias.
No, that is not what I am saying. What I am saying is that people are mostly interested in shows they watch winning awards. The most popular shows are on broadcast TV just because they are available to the most people. It has nothing to do with judging people’s taste in programming. If the industry is going to nominate streaming and premium cable shows for awards instead of shows on broadcast TV, the ratings for the award show will go down because less people have watched the winning shows.
Yes, you can. I love watching the emmy’s because 1- it isn’t stuffy like the Oscar’s and 2- it’s based on TV shows which I prefer over movies. But when I heard that there was no host…I was out. I like the fun opening numbers (whether it’s singing or just stand-up). I like the fun in between presenters stuff from a (good) host. But this was strictly presenters, awards, and speech. Boring for most viewers. I heard they did a small but boring opening thing but that doesn’t take the place of a host
Matt, as long as the Emmys keep picking shows hardly anyone watched like FleaGAG, and just how many are watching it? We don’t know and we’ll never know. The ratings will continue to crater.
Fleabag was outstanding and most people I know watched it. I agree that taste is different for everyone, but there were plenty of shows (Game of Thrones for instance) that tens of millions of people watched that were nominated. I think the show being on Fox could have been part of the issue. Their summer shows, and thus potential audience advertised to, are lower.
The current Emmy Awards show has become an infomercial for streaming services and their programs. Who was doing the majority of the advertising on last night’s broadcast? The streaming services. I saw one ad for a Jessica Biel series going onto Facebook. That’s the future.
Just ten years ago, indeed, not only did the Emmy Show bring in 18m viewers, but the shows that were being nominated were also bringing in 15m+ viewers. Now, with streaming, how many people have actually watched ‘Fleabag’, or ‘Chernobyl’? With Veep, TBBT, GoT all ending production, how many future nominees will be able to say they have 10m+ viewers watching their shows each week as TBBT and GoT had? Death spiral. Next year, the Emmys will have 5m viewers, and then 3m, and then…
I’m baffled as to why the broadcast networks still sponsor the awards show. Why not let the Emmy show go on Amazon or Netflix… then ratings and how many viewers the show receives won’t matter… we’ll just count the subscriber base, look at the stock price of the company, and declare success.
This is really quite simple. People will tune in if there is something worthwhile to watch. Apparently the vast majority of people didn’t think the emmys were worthy.
I recorded it and will fast forward and see if there is anything interesting to see. As Butch said, not that mmuch to see when most just say the same thing.
Sorry but in my OPINION Netflix, Amazon et al should have their own awards and have Emmy awards for tv shows ABC CBS NBC LMN et al weven HBO, SHOWTIME things we can get on cable tv. I didn’t watch the Emmys this year because most all of the niominations were for shows I don’t have on my tv. Part of the decline reason is some are tired of political rants at these award shows and possibly because many donot have the paid for shows like Netflix and Amazon
Totally agree with Sharon. I don’t subscribe to all those streaming services. I can’t afford it! It’s like the haves versus the have nots! There are great shows on the networks but they rarely get consideration. Meh, why watch!
I also agree BIG TIME, and actually just wrote my own comment saying the same thing. The Emmys are for TV shows, not streaming. They always have been, and they should continue to be. I turned the show on, and with the first award I realized there’s nothing in here for me. I will not watch the Emmys again while it’s in this same format!!!
Add me to this group as well. I don’t get any streaming shows due to my poor internet–am in a “no fly zone” for quality service. I can’t afford all of HBO, Showtime etc. I saw who was nominated and didn’t even bother turning it on. I use to be a big fan–then it also got political and that turned me off. I also will not watch if there’s nothing I am interested in.
Four of the best scripted broadcast shows, The Code, Elementary, The Enemy Within and Instinct, were all cancelled. I’m sure those slots will be filled with dumb comedies and/or more “reality” shows.
Award shows should no longer be aired during prime space on major networks.They now routinely get lower ratings.They cover too much of a vastly expanded industry.The programming that wins,when not simply a dominant show that automatically wins,is often programming only a portion of the award show audience has seen.
I stopped watching the Emmys years ago because like most of America, if an award show has nothing but actors and shows I don’t or cant watch because I don’t or cant pay for cable it is a waste of my time. If the Emmys ever expects to bring back viewership they need to start thinking about having a broadcast Emmy show and a a cable Emmy show.
I haven’t watched the Emmys in years. I have no idea who most of the actors or tv shows that are nominated are.
While I do have cable, I do not pay for any streaming services.
Eh, while the Emmys continue to ignore regular broadcast shows many more people will tune out. It’s a joke that a broadcast network televises it every year. Just send it to Netflix or Amazon Prime, that way they have their built in audience.
In the past, the Emmy format was different and fun; with the tables and the drinking. You never knew what someone might say. This was just another awards show and a bad one at that. Who has the idea for someone to do monologue over the music as people walked to the stage? It was a hot mess. Even the red carpet section was awful, Jenny McCarthy was painful to watch.
Jenny McCarthy is ALWAYS painful to watch. Have you seen her on New Year’s Eve?
She’s an anti- vaxxer nudnik. Nuff said
The Emmy’s have never had tables and drinking. That’s the Golden Globes. The SAG awards also have tables, but I don’t think the drinking.
I feel like I have been priced out of the Emmys. Subscribing to HBO, Netflix, Hulu, Amazon Prime, Apple, etc. is not financially viable for me right now and I am guessing a lot of people can say the same thing. It breaks my heart to see network TV being phased out. TV was available for almost everyone. Now, it’s a luxury.
Totally agree. Who can afford all these different streaming services. There’s a lot on broadcast tv that is still good, but it’s no longer the “in” thing. I never even HEARD if many of the nominated shows, much less watched them. And most of the bits they did were so NOT funny. I watched, but probably won’t in the future
what do you mean the “in” thing ?? …. good tv shows are good regardless of what network or whatever streaming services – the difference is the streaming services (and cable) have developed a model that few broadcast shows have been able to do – which is basically film their shows like a movie – being able to complete an entire season (or most of a season) before airing any episodes
but the reality is 24 did this over a decade before Netflix or any other network started filming shows like this for binging
as well – many of the best shows of all time … were all made for broadcast tv long before any current shows and they’ll ALWAYS remain “better’ than many current or future shows — ie. LOST, West Wing, All in the Family, I Love Lucy, etc —
Just here to agree with everyone else – too many shows, too many platforms, too expensive.
I was so bored because I don’t actually watch anything that won. It was weird because they try to be so sophisticated in the nominees and winners, yet the show felt so cheap and cheesy.
Why do they need an awards show anyways, isn’t their big fat paychecks enough. I don’t get an award for doing my job, why should they. They are getting paid to do a job, and overpaid at that.
I didn’t even realize it was on, not that I would have watched it. Broadcast TV, with the exception of a handful of programs, has become a vast wasteland. Reality shows and dumb comedies. Even cable (except maybe for streaming) is dreck and I’m glad I gave it up and saved $60 a month. Instinct, Elementary, The Code and The Enemy Within were all fine shows and they were all dropped.
OK
The Emmy Awards are becoming more like an award for cable and streaming shows. I feel bad for broadcast shows. Emmys is not the same as used to be.
I’m not surprised. I haven’t seen a broadcast show ever win anything since 2014. Also just because Oscars did fine without a host doesn’t mean emmys are okay without a host too. Don’t fix what it ain’t broken. Just keep it simple entertainment
Yeah, this will get even worse with Disney+, Apple tv+, HBO Max, Peacock and Quibi coming out this year. Soon, there will be no nominations from Broadcast tv.
If the Emmy Awards choose to mostly nominate shows that are on streaming services, then they should air their boring awards on one of the streaming services. I have cable and there are about five shows I watch every week on network TV. I also watch Outlander which I feel deserves recognition and yet is overlooked. I also watched several things on HBO and never missed an episode of Game of Thrones. All of those nominations for GOT actors last night and yet Peter Dinklage is the only actor ever honored for it. There is plenty to watch with cable and I am not spending more money to subscribe to all of the streaming services out there. Most of the people I know who do subscribe to streaming services do not have cable so the only people watching the shows that win most of the Emmys cannot even watch the awards show even if they wanted to. What kind of sense does that make. It used to be that the shows and actors winning awards were shows that everyone had access to but not so anymore. If the Emmys want to be some hoity toity click that is too good for the shows on network TV, then don’t complain when the people who watch network TV aren’t interested in watching your awards. I would rather watch football.
Broadcast TV viewers, who still make up the bulk of the television audience, know their favorites are going to be ignored by the Emmys, who give all the awards to cable and streaming shows, even if they aren’t really better, so they just don’t bother watching. If broadcast TV had its own Emmy award show,it would get better ratings..
You are all nuts. Network television shows are garbage.
I completely agree. It is almost impossible to find a decent network showI. It’s really no wonder why cable and streaming shows are the winners, they are far more superior.
As for the ratings, it was gonna happen, people don’t care for award shows anymore. I think every award show has extremely low ratings nowadays.
Lmao right? Sure the Emmys viewership is declining because they aren’t awarding what the masses watch anymore, but since when is that the reason to give mediocrity more awards? That’s what shows like People’s Choice Awards are for. I love a number of network shows, but that doesn’t mean that they should be awarded over more quality content.
It’s not that they aren’t awarding. It’s that they’re not even looking. Jonny Lee Miller and Lucy Liu, A.J Buckley, James Roday, Grace Park, etc. There are talent and great performances on broadcast tv, but if you know as a viewer that such performances have almost no shot of getting nominated, never mind winning, the awards are really irrelevant to you as a viewer. It’s not about the number of people watching. It’s about people wishing that the Academy would recognize that there is quality in broadcast tv beyond This is Us.
I agree with you, Andrea. And your other replies in the other post about this topic. I referenced the Brett Swann SEAL Team story line further down, but A.J. Buckley was also deserving for his story line.
I do not watch the Emmy’s anymore because there is nothing nominated for regular t.v. The Emmys has always been for TV shows and that’s what I want to see nominated. There should be a separate ceremony For all of the cable and streaming shows and keep the regular Emmys for those of us who are still watching the big five.
The very fine actors and actresses in TV shows should be recognized like they always have been over the decades. Streaming and cable shows are bigger productions and they can put more into them, I do think it is a slap in the face to regular TV. I love the MAs, and I did turn it on last night, but shut it off when I realize there were no shows that I watch that were nominated. Terrible!!
Maybe the low ratings are because middle income people are sick of seeing Uber rich society gloat all over themselves about how awesome they are and they got a trophy to prove it!
I am old school and behind on technology. I watch broadcast television. I am old enough to remember when it’s all there was. It is wonderful and expected to see the medium of television grow and change but there is too much product. As a viewer, I see very little of all the celebrated favorites. When I cannot root for a show or star or creative, when I have not even heard of much of these projects, watching an awards show has little meaning or resonance.
I remember watching the Emmy’s and being excited to see the casts from the different network shows that we watched in our household and rooting for our favorites. I know the ship has sailed on the argument that a separation between the streaming and the network programming would be more balanced. After all, they don’t play by the same rules. The Emmy’s just aren’t fun anymore. 😊
what do you mean you’re old school and “old enough to remember” …. you mean you’re over 30 years old ? … or you’re just old ..?
and what do you mean there’s too much product ? … as if people are expected to watch “EVERYTHING” ??
even when there was only 3 networks … or even 4 when Fox started in the late 80s …. not every show was made for every viewer
and if you’re not familiar with most of the shows nominated … and ?? … so do watch the Emmys… does it really matter if anyone watches or these awards were cancelled ?
I don’t understand the need for award shows. A bunch of millionaires congratulating each other for playing make believe and then pontificating about societies ills and how it’s all our fault. People not living in the real world lecturing us on equal pay….like they would understand any of that. Sorry you made 10 million and your male costar made 12 million…..how will you survive?? Stop glorifying these delusional morons. Television can be informative and entertaining, but, to applaud these phonies for doing their jobs is absurd.
Oh Zac…that’s brilliant! These actors are just so out of touch with real life in a daily world…they pontificate about what they know to me and what do I care about your outrageous salaries and the actor receives a bigger paycheck than the actress! I can’t be bothered about “he was the first out gay man who won the drama award”…that’s fine for him, doesn’t change my life in any way, shape or form and why crow about THAT since it is just part of life anyway? Last night Fox was so full of itself it vomited all over the Emmys; there were a hundred shows nominated and who won that I’ve never seen because I don’t make $10 million a year so I could afford all those streaming services to begin with!!!!!!!!!! It’s all gone belly up and I do hope that Netflix will air their stupid awards next year so I don’t even have to come close to being subjected to awful and poorly acted out skits by these folk who claim to be actors!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
there is no “need” for all the various entertainment related awards shows – the reality is it’s all just programming filler just like anything else on tv … to sell advertising and it’s all created as a “horse race” for fans to feel like “their opinion” matters … it doesn’t accept for shows like the MTV awards or whatever where the public actually gets to vote
it’s all just to sell party food, advertise whatever companies can afford 30 – 60 second spots … and fill time inbetween new episodes of whatever tv show is currently in production for the time slot
There are way too many awards shows. Just a glut of them have over saturated tv. Not a fan of any of them anymore. Used to be fun when there were just a few to look forward to.
agreed – I’m actually surprised by now they don’t just run a ticker at the bottom of the screen with everyone’s agent’s names, law firm, manager or their most recent box office tallies, etc – would save a lot of time and blathering about names no one cares about
the reality is all those agents, lawyers, managers, etc … have only stood by their clients .. because they’ve made them money
I watched, but it was awful (except for few great speeches and surprise wins). Everything about it seemed cheap and half-@ssed. The lighting, the directing and certainly the writing – it all seemed off.
Perhaps it’s time to create more categories. HBO and those guys spend lots of money to produce a (generally) 6 to 8 episode “season” while broadcast shows have a much more limited budget that must be stretched over many more episodes making it difficult for broadcast television to achieve a “wow” factor. Also, I have given up watching all awards shows because they rarely reflect the viewers’ taste.
I’ve said for a long time now that there should be separate categories for broadcast TV, cable, and streaming. Unlike some other posters here, I don’t think all broadcast shows are garbage. And I think these people deserve to be recognized for their work (my mind is jumping to the Brett Swann storyline on SEAL Team). It’s also a way to promote the good shows on broadcast TV and maybe add some viewers. Do the powers that be wonder why people are not watching? If you are mainly a viewer of broadcast TV, like many people are, there’s nothing to root for. Why bother watching? The entire Emmy process needs a complete overhaul. Aside from that, I liked the host-less show. The speeches felt more relaxed, without them being dragged off-stage after their 30 second speech allotment time. I thought that man who was speaking while they were walking up to accept their award was beyond annoying. Bring back the orchestra, give those musicians a job.