Despite last year’s Primetime Emmy Awards boasting a slight improvement in ratings from its predecessor, the 70th Primetime Emmy Awards (which aired live from the Los Angeles Microsoft Theater on September 17th) took that promising trend back downward.
Drawing a record-low audience, this year’s showing – hosted by Michael Che and Colin Jost of ‘Saturday Night Live’ – saw an 11 percent drop in viewership compared to the last two years.
Curious to see just how many tuned in to see “The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel” become the first show from a streaming service to win best comedy and HBO’s hit series, “Game of Thrones,” win the top drama? The answer inside:
Monday’s show drew a record-low audience of just over 10.21 million people, down 11 percent from the past two years.
The decline to 10.21 million continues a troubling trend for televised awards shows. The Oscars audience this year was down 19 percent from 2017 and the Grammys were down 23 percent.
The further fragmentation of television undoubtedly plays a role in audience interest levels. When “Frasier” was winning awards in the 1990s, the comedy was regularly seen in nearly 20 million homes.
Three times in the 1990s, the audience for the Emmy Awards exceeded 20 million people. [source]