Despite a post-pandemic resurgence last year, the Emmys’ viewership has fallen to an all-time low of 5.9 million as a result of criticism of the ceremony.
According to Neilsen, Monday night’s viewership was 1.5 million fewer than last year’s total and lagged significantly below the mostly virtual 2020 event, which attracted 6.1 million viewers, the previous record-low.
The awards event garnered a 1.1 rating, a 42 percent decrease from last year’s 1.8 rating, despite criticism that it was rather predictable and mixed reviews for presenter Kenan Thompson.
Mike Hale of The New York Times described Monday’s performance by Thompson as “forgettable.”
According to Hale, “the concert settled into a friendly and unobtrusive, formless and graceless rhythm.” There isn’t anything to be thrilled about or unhappy over.
The New Yorker’s Michael Schulman concurred that the programme was unoriginal and criticised both Thompson’s hosting skills and the Emmys’ general script.
The ceremony, according to Schulman, “was ineptly scripted and timed” while honouring the art of television. The comedic interludes by Thompson “had a wocka-wocka desperation about them.”
The funniest joke of the evening, according to Thompson, was his dig at Leonardo DiCaprio’s love life, in which he said that Zendaya, 26, was too old for the actor, who is known for breaking up with lovers when they hit 25.
The’resident DJ’ Zedd’s’ live music performance also turned off the audience.
There weren’t many shocks on Monday night’s programme, which saw Succession and Ted Lasso win best drama and best comedy, respectively, for the second time.
White Lotus, an HBO comedy-drama anthology, won five trophies, exceeding predictions for a sweep of the Emmys.
Since the Emmys’ viewership peaked at 17.7 million in 2013, it has been declining.
As previous programmes that were held on Mondays, in 2018 and 2014, both saw a big reduction in viewership compared to Emmys held on Sundays, a portion of the ratings dips might be attributable to its Monday night time slot.
The Emmys were also streamed on Peacock this year, but NBC has not released the amount of views on streaming platforms.
The decline is consistent with a relative downward trend in prime-time awards show viewing.
8.9 million people watched the Grammy Awards in total this year, which is the second-lowest figure since last year’s record-low of 8.8 million.
In 2021, the Oscars had a record-low 10.5 million viewers. This year, the Academy Awards attracted 16.6 million viewers, a 58 percent increase, thanks to Will Smith’s contentious slap of Chris Rock, which generated the most discussion for the programme in years.