Last night, Andy Samberg hosted the 67th Primetime Emmy Awards on Fox. There were glamorous dresses, a few really amusing jokes and even a musical number to kick off the program. However, all of that was not enough to take down the NFL in the ratings. This morning, reports indicate that NBC’s Sunday Night Football totally dominated in the ratings, leaving the Emmys in the dust.
Honestly, numbers for the Emmys weren’t exactly bad, but they didn’t stack up compared to either previous telecasts or Sunday Night Football. Overnight, 11.9 million viewers tuned in for the Andy Samberg-hosted awards. The show also earned an 8.7 rating, which most programs would be envious of. However, Deadline reports this is actually down 24% from last year’s ratings (although last year’s ceremony aired on a Monday rather than a Sunday). In addition, those numbers are lower than the ones Fox nabbed back in 2008, when a low of 12.3 million total viewers tuned in (numbers weren’t tracked back in the seventies).
So, was it the Sunday night timeslot before premiere week that did the show in? Was it the nominated shows and actors? Was it the fact that Andy Samberg hosted the big event that turned people away? The host at least kept things moving and the show actually ended on time, for once, so I wouldn’t say the Brooklyn Nine-Nine actor was a bad fit, although he is a little goofy. Plus, Fox was absolutely marketing the heck out of the 67th Primetime Emmy Awards during that network’s football schedule airing earlier that day, although I’m not sure there really is all that much audience crossover. Whatever the problem, the Emmys didn’t equate to the best numbers of the night last night.
Granted, it was a pretty good week for Sunday Night Football, which pulled in a 16.3 rating and 27 market share. This morning, NBC reported the network’s coverage of the Seattle Seahawks vs. the Green Bay Packers absolutely dominated in the ratings. It was the second best ever Week 2 rating for the program, which peaked during a Giants vs. Cowboys game back in 2012. Obviously, the Emmy Awards were always going to face stiff competition from Sunday Night Football when aired on a Sunday evening during the fall. However, hitting a new low also doesn’t help the problem any.
Next year, ABC has the prestigious awards ceremony, and doubtless the network will do what it can to compete against Sunday Night Football (or whatever else is airing) with aplomb. For now, there are two more awards still set to roll out and nab big ratings this TV season, and we’ll keep you posted as the Golden Globes and Academy Awards continue to move forward.
