Stay up to date with notifications from The Independent

Notifications can be managed in browser preferences.

Emmy ratings up to 7.4 million viewers this year

Have awards show ratings hit rock bottom

Via AP news wire
Monday 20 September 2021 13:45 EDT
2021 Primetime Emmy Awards - Show
2021 Primetime Emmy Awards - Show (Television Academy)

Your support helps us to tell the story

From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it's investigating the financials of Elon Musk's pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, 'The A Word', which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.

At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.

The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it.

Your support makes all the difference.

The Emmys accomplished what is becoming a rarity for awards shows these days, by actually increasing its viewership over the previous years.

The Nielsen company estimated that 7.4 million people watched Sunday night's show, where the comedy “Ted Lasso” and streaming service Netflix were the big winners.

That's up from the 6.1 million people who watched a ceremony sharply curtailed by the COVID-19 pandemic last year. The previous year, 6.9 million people watched the show that celebrates television programming.

CBS estimates the viewership number should increase slightly when Nielsen's count of people who watched outside of their homes is included. Those numbers weren't immediately available on Monday.

Awards shows of all types have struggled in the ratings the past couple of years, victims of television's trend toward streaming and viewers deciding what they want to watch and when.

Streaming services were celebrated at the Emmys, where Netflix tied a record for most individual awards in a year, helped primarily by “The Crown” and “The Queen's Gambit.” The comedy “Ted Lasso” is on the Apple TV+ service.

Thank you for registering

Please refresh the page or navigate to another page on the site to be automatically logged inPlease refresh your browser to be logged in