LOS ANGELES — About 6.7 million viewers watched the 78th Primetime Emmy Awards on NBC, marking a nearly 10% drop from last year’s ceremony, according to Nielsen data released Tuesday.
The audience fell from 7.42 million viewers for last year’s CBS broadcast and 6.87 million for ABC’s 2024 telecast.
“Widow’s Bay,” an Apple TV series, led Monday’s ceremony with a record 14 Emmy wins for a comedy. “The Pitt” won outstanding drama series for the second consecutive year.
Mariska Hargitay, known for her role on “Law & Order: Special Victims Unit,” hosted the ceremony.
Football competition weighs on ratings
The Emmys faced competition from the first Monday Night Football game of the season, which featured the Kansas City Chiefs and Denver Broncos on ESPN.
NBC traditionally moves the Emmys to Monday when it broadcasts Sunday Night Football. That scheduling choice allowed NBC to keep its Sunday football lineup but placed the awards show directly against ESPN’s Monday game.
The Emmys also lacked a football lead-in that some networks have used to boost viewership for the ceremony.
Awards show audience remains below past levels
Despite the decline, this year’s audience remained well above the Emmy Awards’ record low of 4.3 million viewers. Fox aired that ceremony in January 2024 after Hollywood’s writers and actors strikes delayed the event for several months.
The Emmys rotate annually among the four major broadcast networks and continue to draw fewer viewers than other major entertainment awards shows.
The ceremony last attracted more than 10 million viewers in 2018, when 10.2 million people watched. The 2000 ceremony drew nearly 22 million viewers.
The rise of streaming television has also changed the shows and performers competing for Emmy awards. Programs such as “Seinfeld” and “ER” attracted large television audiences during their Emmy runs in the 1990s, while recent nominees can generate significant industry attention without reaching comparable broadcast audiences.