Emmy Awards ratings up 8% with CBS audience of 7.4 million
[September 16, 2025]
By ANDREW DALTON
LOS ANGELES (AP) — Ratings for the Emmy Awards have continued their
climb from all-time lows as the television industry looks to shake off
the shake-ups of recent years.
About 7.42 million viewers tuned in to watch the Nate Bargatze -hosted
77th Primetime Emmy Awards on CBS, according to Nielsen company data
released Monday by the network. The night's big winners were “The
Studio,” “Adolescence,” “The Pitt” and late-night host Stephen Colbert,
who got a huge outpouring of support from the Peacock Theater audience.
It was the most-watched Emmys telecast since 2021, and was up 8% from
the 6.87 million that watched the “Shogun”-dominated ABC telecast in
September 2024.
Sunday's show was up more than 70% from the all-time low of 4.3 million
from the Fox telecast of January 2024, which was delayed by months
because of Hollywood’s writers and actors strikes.
The Emmys telecast rotates annually between the four broadcast networks.
The pandemic brought its own all-time low. The Emmys in 2020 on ABC,
with no in-person audience and remote nominees attracted 6.1 million
viewers. The show bounced back the following year with 7.4 million for
CBS with help from an NFL game lead-in.
But NBC’s 2022 telecast dropped to 5.9 million, followed by the further
dip in early 2024.
Sunday night's telecast also had football as a lead-in in some regions
of the West, but had to compete against a national game on NBC. The Emmy
Awards have had to consistently compete with the NFL — by far the
biggest force in broadcast and cable television ratings — in a way that
no other awards show faces.
The Emmys lag well behind comparable shows, bringing less than half the
viewers of the Oscars or Grammys and significantly fewer than the Golden
Globes.
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Bryan Cranston, right, presents the award for outstanding talk
series to Stephen Colbert, left, for "The Late Show with Stephen
Colbert" during the 77th Primetime Emmy Awards on Sunday, Sept. 14,
2025, at the Peacock Theater in Los Angeles. (AP Photo/Chris
Pizzello)
Like the Oscars, the show has had to reckon with prestige nominees that
bring with them buzz but not big audiences. In the 1990s “Seinfeld” and
“ER” were drawing massive viewer numbers along with their Emmy tallies
in a way that “The Studio” and “The Pitt” do not.
Bargatze made a joke of the phenomenon in his show-opening sketch with
“Saturday Night Live” cast members, in which he played TV inventor Philo
T. Farnsworth predicting the future of the medium.
“The shows that win an Emmy will achieve the highest level of artistry,”
he said.
“And will have the most viewers,” scene partner Mikey Day said.
“Not even close,” Bargatze replied. “Most people will watch football and
‘Yellowstone.’”
The last Emmys to reach more than 10 million viewers was 2018, when it
drew in 10.2 million. The show had nearly 22 million viewers in 2000, a
level it’s unlikely ever to hit again given the vast and fractured
entertainment environment.
But interest remains.
About 6 in 10 U.S. adults say they’ve watched an awards show, clips or
both in the last year, according to a new poll from The Associated
Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research.
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