Returning to their usual September berth helped give a big boost to the TV ratings for the 2024 Emmys.
Sunday’s awards show, hosted by Eugene and Dan Levy on ABC, averaged 6.9 million viewers in final same-day ratings from Nielsen. That’s a 55 percent jump over the delayed 2023 awards, which pulled in 4.46 million viewers — an all-time low for the awards (at least in the 35 to 40 years of total viewer records). The 2023 Emmys aired on Fox in January, four months later than usual after last year’s writers and actors strikes.
Sunday’s broadcast also drew a 1.03 rating among adults 18-49, an 18 percent improvement over last year’s low.
The Emmys have struggled in the ratings even before the COVID-19 pandemic produced lows across the board for awards shows. While the Oscars, Grammys and Golden Globes have since rebounded some since then (though not to their former heights), the Emmys telecast hasn’t averaged more than 8 million viewers since 2018 and has only topped 7 million once since then, on CBS in 2021. The show averaged 11.19 million viewers in the four years from 2015-18.
The improvement for the Emmys on Sunday stops a run of two consecutive ceremonies (on NBC in 2022 and Fox in January) where the awards drew an all-time low in both total viewers and the adults 18-49 demographic. Both of those shows aired on Monday nights opposite larger-than-usual NFL audiences on ABC and ESPN. This year’s telecast also ran opposite an game on NBC’s Sunday Night Football, which drew just over 18 million viewers — but that’s a far cry from the 29 million-plus for the playoff game that ran opposite the Emmys in January.
The biggest winners at the Emmys, the FX-produced Shogun and The Bear, were also fairly popular. The former spent 10 weeks among Nielsen’s most popular streaming shows (in addition to airing on FX’s cable channel). Both The Bear’s second season (for which it was honored at these Emmys) last year and the third edition this summer had multi-week runs in the rankings as well.
Elsewhere Sunday, the 57th season of CBS’ 60 Minutes began with 10.48 million viewers (based on preliminary Nielsens) following an NFL doubleheader. It was the most-watched non-sports show of the night but came in behind the 11.8 million viewers who watched last season’s debut.
Sept. 17, 3:50 p.m. Updated with final ratings for Sunday.
