The Emmys Hit New Ratings Low in Early Numbers

Looks like the biggest night in television wasn’t necessarily the most watched. According to early data from Nielsen, viewership for the 2018 Primetime Emmys Awards is down 10 percent compared to last year. The fact that Colin Jost and Michael Che couldn’t drive numbers should be surprising to no one.

According to Variety, the Emmys drew a 8.2 rating in metered markets last year. That dropped to 7.4 for 2018. These numbers have yet to be adjusted for time zones, but at the moment that 7.4 represents a new low for the Emmys.

And it’s not like the Emmys were coming off a high point in the first place. Last year’s Emmys saw 11.4 million viewers. That may sound impressive until you remember that it also tied with the 2016 Emmys as the least-watched ceremony to date. It’s not exactly a record you want to break.

But in the 2018 Emmys defense, the ceremony had a lot working against it. The awards show was moved from its typical Sunday night to a Monday, pitting it against the Seahawk and the Bears game for whatever that’s worth. And it wasn’t an especially exciting awards show. There were very few neck-in-neck races to get excited about, and most of the nominations came for shows that are critical favorites with low ratings. There were some painful snubs (RIP Atlanta Season 2) and a live proposal, but for the most part this year was Emmys as normal. And who wants to watch an awards show on a Monday night, let along a dull one?

This is a developing story that we will update once more rating information becomes available.