Didn’t catch the Emmys? You’re not alone.
Awards shows in general have been drawing smaller audiences in recent years, with the Emmys hitting a new low this year. Why? There are so many reasons, including the fact that there are too many televised awards shows at this point, rendering all of them a little less special. There’s only so much Hollywood self-love we can take.
Also, the arts are extremely fragmented now, so that, with a few exceptions, we’re all watching different shows and movies. If you didn’t take out subscriptions for a few months of Hulu and Max in the past year or so, for example, you hadn’t seen most of the Emmy nominees in the drama and comedy categories. You’d likely be less inclined to tune in to watch the show, which aired Monday night on Fox. Many, many, many viewers are watching TV shows now, but different shows on different outlets.
This year’s Emmys drew only 4.3 million viewers. For most of the 2010s, the telecast attracted between 10 and 17 million. In the 2020s, that number has dipped, hovering around 6 and 7 million.
Some of this year’s low is due to the fact that the Emmy telecast was delayed last year due to the strikes, and so it felt somewhat dated by the time it did air. A few of the shows being honored on Monday were released more than a year and a half ago, in the summer of 2022. Coming only a week after the Golden Globes, and in the middle of movie-award season, the Emmys may have seemed especially stale to many. Also, the show was up against the Iowa caucuses and a Monday night football playoff, which brought in some 28 million.Let’s see how the next Emmys do. They’re only about eight months away.