Emmy ratings flirt with all-time lows

Maybe those ad whizzes on "Mad Men" should come up with a marketing campaign to boost the Emmys.

After handing the outstanding drama series prize to the stylish but little-watched AMC series about the ad industry in the early 1960s, Sunday's 60th Primetime Emmy Awards picked up its own ratings booby prize, delivering the ceremony's worst numbers since at least 1990.

An average of 12.2 million viewers tuned in to ABC's three-hour event, slipping 5% compared with last year's telecast on Fox, according to early data from Nielsen Media Research. This year's tally looked to be the lowest since Nielsen started using "people meters" in 1987. However, final figures to be released Tuesday will likely rise a bit after some statistical adjustments, in which case this year's outing might tie or brush past the 12.3 million Fox earned in 1990.

But the news was particularly bad among the young-adult viewers sought by advertisers, as well as by TV academy officials who are seeking to keep the ceremony relevant to today's audience. The ABC broadcast earned an all-time low rating of 3.8 among viewers ages 18 to 49, for a 12% dive compared with last year. This was the first year the Emmys have dipped below a 4.0 rating among viewers 18-49.

ABC declined to comment.

The fault may not lie simply in the low-rated shows honored by Emmy voters, including "Mad Men" and "30 Rock," which took the top comedy trophy. The Emmys faced tough competition from a Dallas Cowboys vs. Green Bay Packers game on NBC (which averaged 16.6 million viewers for the night).

And then there was the Emmy show itself: Co-hosted by reality emcees Tom Bergeron, Heidi Klum, Howie Mandel, Jeff Probst and Ryan Seacrest, the telecast was savaged by critics. Los Angeles Times critic Mary McNamara wrote, "The show never quite recovered from its unforgivably bad opener, or its less-than-useless hosts."

-- Scott Collins

Comments

[David]

Of course few people watched. They open with that blow hard Oprah, speeking to a room full of left wing liberals wearing expensive clothes given to the wealthy who complain about lack of care for the poor. Sounds fun to me.

[txrus]

Now that the 'Big 3' networks were all but shut out of this year's Emmys (& rightly so!), maybe someone, somewhere w/in the networks will take a good long look @ the drivel that passes for their prime-time line-ups. It's not really a surprise that the Academy of Television ARTS & Sciences refused to acknowledge the crapfest that the networks have, by & large, filled their air time with & thought we, the viewers, wanted to see. Though new media has changed the way people watch tv (another blind spot w/the networks, but that is another soap box I will refrain from climbing on right now), it doesn't change the fact that people don't want to watch garbage regardless of how, when, or where. If the networks don't want to listen to the average viewer, perhaps the opinion of the 'experts' @ the Academy will convince them.

[Lily]

How do you expect to capture viewers under 50 years old, if you highlight shows like Laugh-In and Smothers Brothers!

[coolrepublica]

I usually watch the show but this year I passed. If most people are like me, they wanted to spare themselves the Hollywood Republican bashing hour. If I want to hear Sarah Palin, McCain bashing I will read the NYT like everybody else.

I knew that the show was going to be political and not entertaining so I saved a few hours of my life and did something else. From the reviews I guess I made the right decision.

[Ozark_Sunshine]

Nobody wants to watch a bunch of has beens and never weres who are not the least bit greatful for the nation that provided them with work. These hacks are a sad lot who cares even less about people except for their one "charity". What a bunch of losers.

[JuanPablo]

I have not watched the Emmys for over 20 years because it is imbedded with its own self-serving glorification of unworldy, over-paid entertainment industry elitists.
I do observevia other media outlets the Emmy post reviews and snippits.
The Emmys have become ever-worse over time with those elitists' spewing their personal Ultra-Liberal vapid commentaries along with the usual self-praises.

[TownCrier]

These people ridicule everything I hold dear....Family, God, Country, Integrity. I do believe; however, that some only tow the hateful leftest line so that they can work...their young and in need of a paycheck. Other, more established persons in this business have sold themselves like cheap whores.(No offense to cheap whores for the comparison) Unfortunately, the rest of the world knows not better and judges the US by the vile trash that Folleywood spews out.

[Tat]

This seems to be a surprise amongst the hollywood elite who are clueless to anything except their own greed and self worship. Americans are fed up with these spoiled drug addicts who think their fame demands political attention. Shut your traps already and be grateful to a nation who has given you so very much. Middle America doesn't give a damn about your uneducated opinion. If we want to listen to trash, we'll tune in next year!

[Ann]

I watched a "Bridezilla" marathon instead of the Emmys. It was most entertaining and a good substitute to watch brides turning mean and nasty. At least they weren't directing their insanity towards me, towards Republicans, or towards John McCain and Sarah Palin, as the Emmys did.

I highly recommend it.

[Rodney]

Like who is really holding their breathe to watch some arrogant idiots praise themselves....of course the ratings are down, again.

[Donaldo]

I have never been big on either the Emmy's or Oscars. But in these very hard economic times, with so many losing or at risk of losing their job...well it seems oh so "over-cooked" and aloof of the current American reality. The "Me,Me,Me" theme, "you love me, you really love me" is too hard to watch.

[steve lisante]

One of the problems for viewership out here is that unlike the Oscars, the emmys are not shown live. By the time it is shown on TV here in California, I already know who the winners are, so why bother to spend three plus hours watching.

[Mike]

Bob Hope, of America's yesteryear, was known for his selfless giving to our men and women in uniform and his political ribbing of the famous and infamous.. He gave the stuffed 'suits' of his day, regardless of their party and rank, a good, but always tasteful bashing. Without fail he would leave you laughing and feeling good. The difference with the present Hollywood bunch is that they are completely biased, crude, mean, and not funny.
They leave you feeling sick and used, and flipping the channel to re-runs of "Happy Days."

[kjohns2001]

The Academy voters seldom vote for the viewers favorites, opting to vote for their favorites instead. This makes many viewers upset with the Emmies, I know it did me as the only show I was interested in was 'House' and the only actor was Hugh Laurie. That such a popular show, and actor, lost to a show with relatively low ratings, only serves to show how disconnected from the viewers the Academy really is.

[Darryl]

Year after year, these award shows are losing viewership. And year after year, people post om message bases like this one and give the same reasons why. They are turned off by the constant Republican bashing. And year after year, they continue to ignore us. When will they realize that Republicans watch TV too? When the hollywood left stops insulting us, we'll tune back in.