Looks like all that pre-Emmy worrying about moving the ceremony to a Monday in August was a bit premature.
Despite a winners list that looked remarkably similar to last year, NBC scored the second-highest Emmy rating in the past eight years, behind only last year’s ceremony.
The telecast scored a 10.9 rating, down 10 percent from last year. But last year’s broadcast had an added lift from an NFL football lead-in. Monday’s Emmys were actually up 14 percent from the last ceremony that didn’t have football as a lead-in. The tentative fast national numbers from Nielsen gave NBC’s 66th Primetime Emmys Awards a 3.8 rating in the advertiser-coveted adults 18-49 demographic, and 13.8 million viewers overall.
The news wasn’t as bright for MTV’s Video Music Awards the previous night, whose Sunday night slot was part of the reason NBC had to move TV’s biggest night of the year to Monday.
The VMAs were down nearly 2 million viewers from last year, averaging 8.3 million viewers throughout the broadcast. The show averaged a 6.7 rating in the target 12-34 demographic. However with encores, the VMAs almost matched Emmy’s total viewers, with 13.7 million tuning in throughout the night.
Read More: Deadline, The Hollywood Reporter
Brief Take: With audiences flocking to television and streaming services, even a move to a weeknight can’t blunt interest in the industry’s biggest night of the year.
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