Emmy Awards ratings up 8% over last year as 7.4 million viewers watch
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The Emmys continued their ratings bounce back Sunday.
The 77th Emmy Awards ceremony from Peacock Theater in Los Angeles delivered an average of 7.42 million viewers on CBS, up 8% from last year’s audience for ABC.
Once among the most-watched live awards shows on television, the Emmy Awards audience declined dramatically over the last decade as most of the series celebrated no longer have the broad reach they did when traditional TV still dominated the culture.
But the audience level appears to have stabilized. Nielsen data shows that ratings for the Emmy Awards grew for the second consecutive year. The figure is the highest since 2021, when the telecast also aired on CBS.
This year, the network enlisted broad-appeal stand-up comic Nate Bargatze as host, who turned the effort to make the program more fast-paced into a running gag. A tote board promised a charitable contribution to the Boys & Girls Clubs of America based on the winners’ ability to keep their acceptance speeches short.
The end of the ‘Late Show’ franchise is a major blow for a once-beloved TV format, which has lost relevance and advertising dollars.
Though President Trump and the MAGA movement were not specifically mentioned, there were a few instances of political commentary. “Hacks” co-star Hannah Einbinder finished her remarks after accepting the outstanding supporting actress trophy by saying, “F— ICE and free Palestine.”
There was also a special award presented to the Corp. for Public Broadcasting, which distributed the federal funding allocated for public TV and radio stations. The CPB is shutting down after Congress rescinded the money it allocated for public broadcasting.
Among the highlights of the telecast were the warm ovations for “Late Show” host Stephen Colbert, whose CBS program will end in May. Colbert won a trophy for best talk series.
The big winners of the night were “The Pitt,” the high-octane medical drama from HBO Max. The program won for outstanding drama while its star Noah Wyle was honored in the lead actor category.
On the comedy side, the most honors went to the Apple TV+ Hollywood send-up “The Studio,” with four wins during the telecast, including outstanding comedy series.
Netflix’s “Adolescence” took home eight trophies, including best limited series, and Jean Smart won her fourth leading actress in a comedy award for HBO Max’s “Hacks.”
