Emmys hit ratings pit
Emmys prove futile draw; so does MNF featuring Bears
The Emmys were handing out trophies last night, but it won’t get one for Best Ratings Performance.
According to Nielsen, last night’s Emmy Awards – airing on NBC this year on Monday because of Sunday Night Football – earned a 7.4 household rating in the metered markets, down from the 8.2 rating earned last year, marking yet another all-time low for the awards show. Fast nationals pegged the Emmys at a 2.4 rating in the adults 18-49 demo, drawing 10.2 million viewers.
As for the awards, The Amazing Mrs. Maisel had a good night winning numerous awards, including Outstanding Comedy Series with HBO’s Game Of Thrones won Best Outstanding Drama. It was another big night for streaming – but instead of Netflix grabbing all the hardware, it was Amazon who did.
For a complete list of winners, click here.
The awards show featured a lot of Saturday Night Live cast and alumnus, and was producer by its executive producer Lorne Michaels. But viewers on social media felt the skits lagged, meaning you can take the SNL comedy only so far.
Meanwhile, the Chicago Bears home opener against the Seattle Seahawks also lagged in the ratings in the metered markets with an 8.2 household number, down from the comparable week two MNF game from last year and marks a historic low. I was right in my assessment regarding the ratings which despite the Bears win, featured a lot of poorly-played football. And second-year quarterback Mitch Trubisky certainly won’t be winning awards for his play.
Not surprisingly, the Bears game on both ESPN and ABC 7 outdrew the Emmys by a large margin, 29.7 to 8.5 in the overnights. But the Bears ratings was down 16 percent from last week when they played the Packers on Sunday Night Football, drawing the biggest household rating in the Chicago market since the Cubs’ Game 7 victory in the 2016 World Series.
The Bears’ national rating performances eerily parallels what the Bulls went through in 2016-17, when several of their nationally televised games set record low NBA ratings on ABC numerous times. Outside of the Cubs, Chicago teams have not been strong national draws as of late.
Despite the disappointing rating performances of both events last night, the Emmys and Monday Night Football stood tall above most competing programming. But you have to question how much longer these type of “big-ticket events” can continue to sustain an audience on linear TV as more and more viewers are migrating to streaming platforms for their television needs.