Emmy Awards telecast records lowest ratings in history with 4.3 million viewers

The Emmy Awards telecast on Fox reached a record low audience of 4.3 million viewers, as the long-term trend of diminishing ratings for the show continues.

The Nielsen company said on Tuesday that the Monday night show hosted by Anthony Anderson with “Succession” and “The Bear” raking in most of the top awards was down from the previous record low of 5.9 million for NBC's telecast in 2022, the last time the event was held.

This year's Emmys had a lot working against them. They were delayed four months from its usual September spot by Hollywood's writers and actors strikes, and had to compete with both an NFL playoff game and coverage of the Iowa caucuses in the presidential campaign.

The audience was less than half of what the CBS telecast of the Golden Globes got eight days earlier. That show, which honoured both TV and movies and had bigger stars in attendance including Taylor Swift, had 9.4 million viewers.

The Emmys and Anderson got generally positive reviews for a show that spent much of its time honouring past television, with reunions and set recreations from shows including “Cheers,” “Martin” and “Grey's Anatomy.”

Variety called it “delightful”, while The Hollywood Reporter praised its “polish, proficiency and emotion.”

But that didn't help the continuing decline in numbers.

The height-of-the-pandemic Emmys in 2020 on ABC, with no in-person audience and remote nominees, set a new low at the time with 6.1 million viewers, but the show bounced back the following year with 7.4 million for CBS.

Then, the decline began again in 2022.