Tony Awards viewership declines for the second consecutive year
The ratings for the Tony Awards have declined for the second consecutive year, with the 2024 show attracting only 3.5 million viewers, the lowest of any awards show this year. This represents a 14.6% decrease from the 2023 viewership of 4.12 million. Additionally, the ratings in the key demographic of 18-49 have also dropped, going from a 0.46 rating last year to a 0.41 this year. Despite this downturn, the viewership numbers were not as low as during the pandemic in 2021 when the show did not even reach 3 million viewers. The 2016 Tony Awards remain the most successful in recent history, buoyed by the popularity of “Hamilton” which helped draw more than 8 million viewers. It is also noted that the 2024 show coincided with Father’s Day, which may have affected overall TV viewership, making it the least watched Sunday night since 1987. The telecast was available on CBS and also streamed on Paramount+, although the streaming numbers were not included in Nielsen’s on-air ratings.
Tony Awards ratings have dropped for a second year in a row after the 2024 award show on Sunday night averaged just 3.5 million viewers.
According to Nielsen’s same-day ratings, the CBS telecast was the least watched awards show so far this year and suffered a drop of 14.6% in viewership over last year’s show — which honors performances on and off Broadway, Playbill.com reported.
To put the 3.5 million viewership into context, the 2023 Tony Awards delivered an average audience of 4.12 million viewers, making this year a second year the honors have seen a drop in the audience, the Hollywood Reporter noted.
The awards show also saw a drop in the coveted age demographic of 18-49, earning a 0.41 rating (equivalent to about 540,000 people) vs. 0.46 for the telecast last year.
While the night might have been disappointing, Sunday night’s telecast is not the lowest audience the Tony Awards have ever had. During the pandemic in 2021, Broadway’s big night failed to reach even 3 million viewers, Playbill noted.
Tony Awards Ratings Drop 15% from Last Year After Miserable Opening Turns Off Viewers https://t.co/rqqrhHyoOK via @Showbiz411
— Showbiz 411 (@showbiz411) June 17, 2024
In 2016, the annual awards show experienced its best night ever — the year “Hamilton” took home almost every honor. That year, more than 8 million people watched as Lin-Manuel Miranda’s creation delivered almost a clean sweep, the outlet noted.
The awards show was shown not only on CBS but also streamed on Paramount+. However, that “platform isn’t part of Nielsen’s on-air ratings,” THR noted.
It also is worth noting that this year’s show was on Father’s Day — and overall television viewing also went down, making it the least watched TV on a Sunday night since 1987, Playbill noted.
The “Tony” ratings drop stands alone this year after other major awards shows like the Golden Globes, Oscars, and Grammy’s all experienced a bump in their viewership over the 2023 numbers, THR noted.
The 2024 Grammy Awards experienced an increase in viewership for the first time since the COVID pandemic struck four years earlier, as previously reported.
CBS scored 17 million viewers in final same-day ratings for the February broadcast of the 66th annual awards show, according to THR. It was an increase of 36% over the number of viewers who tuned in to watch the biggest night in music in 2023 when the show attracted 12.55 million viewers.
The 96th Academy Awards also improved after it attracted 19.5 million viewers in March, the largest audience since pre-pandemic highs in 2020, according to Variety.
The jump in Oscars and Grammy Awards viewership followed that of the 2024 Golden Globes, which experienced its first spike in the ratings game since 2020, with a 50% increase over last year.
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