Emmys audience craters to all-time low of six million after post-pandemic bounce
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Emmy’s viewership craters to ALL-TIME low of 5.9 million after post-pandemic bounce with critics labeling ‘forgotten’ event as ‘incomprehensibly written’ and ‘harmless’
- Emmy viewership dropped to 5.9 million on Monday night, an all-time low for the awards ceremony after it saw a post-pandemic rebound last year.
- Viewership dropped by 1.5 million from last year, also lagging behind the largely virtual event of 2020 with 6.1 million viewers
- Critics condemned the show and the performance by host Kenan Thompson, who brought more dancing than humor to the awards ceremony
- Viewers also soured at live music performance by ‘resident DJ’
- Monday’s show also offered little surprises as the favorites to win like Succession and Ted Lasso took home the prizes in their respective categories.
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Viewership for the Emmys has fallen to an all-time low of 5.9 million, despite recovering from last year’s pandemic when critics condemned the event.
Monday night’s viewership was 1.5 million less than last year’s total, slightly behind the 2020 largely virtual ceremony that drew 6.1 million viewers, the previous record low, according to Neilsen.
The low ratings came when the awards ceremony was judged to be fairly predictable and host Kenan Thompson met with a mixed reception, with the show receiving a rating of 1.1, down 42 percent from last year’s 1.8.
The New York TimesMike Hale called Monday’s show and Thompson’s performance “forgettable.”
“The show landed in a friendly and innocent, shapeless and graceful groove,” Hale wrote. ‘Not much to get excited about; not much to worry about.’
Emmy viewership dropped to 5.9 million on Monday night, an all-time low for the awards ceremony after it saw a post-pandemic rebound last year.
Critics condemned the show and the performance by host Kenan Thompson (center) who brought more dancing than humor to the awards ceremony
Viewers also soured at the live music performance of the ‘resident DJ’ Zedd (above)
Michael Schulman, of the New Yorkeragreed that there was nothing new about the show, criticizing Thompson’s chops as a host and the overall writing of the Emmys.
“Despite celebrating the craft of television, the ceremony was clumsily written and tempered,” Schulman wrote. “Thompson’s comedic interludes had a wocka-wocka desperation about them.”
Thompson’s best joke of the night was considered his poke at Leonardo DiCaprio’s love life, joking that Zendaya, 26, was deemed too old for the actor who was famous for dumping his girlfriends when they turned 25.
Viewers also soured at the live music performance of the ‘resident DJ’ Zedd.
There were few surprises from Monday night’s show, with both Succession and Ted Lasso claiming best drama and comedy for the second time, respectively.
HBO’s comedy-drama anthology, White Lotus, also lived up to the expectations of an Emmy sweep, winning five awards.
Viewership for the Emmys has been declining since it peaked at 17.7 million in 2013.
Thompson’s most, and perhaps only, memorable joke of the evening was a poke at Leonardo DiCaprio’s love life
Some of the ratings drops can be attributed to the Monday night timeslot, as previous shows held on Mondays, in 2018 and 2014, both had a major drop in viewership compared to Emmys held on Sundays.
This year’s award show was also streamed on Peacock, but NBC has not disclosed the viewership of the Emmy’s streaming services.
The decline follows a relative trend in declining viewership for prime-time award shows.
This year’s Grammys saw a total of 8.9 million viewers, the second lowest since last year’s record low of 8.8 million.
The Oscars also bottomed out at 10.5 million in 2021, with this year’s Academy Awards pulling in 16.6 million viewers, a 58 percent increase amid Will Smith’s controversial slap of Chris Rock becoming the biggest buzz to hit the screen. show in years.