LOS ANGELES — A record-low 6.9 million viewers tuned in to Sunday night’s broadcast of the 71st Primetime Emmy Awards on Fox, a 32 percent drop from last year’s previous low mark of 10.2 million viewers.
The precipitous drop in viewership could cause the Television Academy to rethink how the awards are presented.
The show this year did not have a host, and its producers were hoping to capture some of the same magic that the Academy Awards did this year when its audience grew to nearly 30 million viewers after it went without a host.
Producers for the Emmys tried several other gimmicks, too. They did away with a live orchestra, instead piping in songs as winners made their way to the stage. They also deployed a commentator, the actor and comedian Thomas Lennon, who offered anecdotes about various winners and tried to keep the festivities moving along. A purple carpet was substituted for the traditional red carpet.
Reviews for the show, however, were unkind. And viewers stayed away.
It is a surprising quandary for the Emmys. Television has never been more popular, and the Emmys have arguably never been more important to the streaming services, studios and networks that are spending millions of dollars to win awards — and differentiate themselves from a growing number of competitors. Television executives believe that Emmy wins are a vital marketing tool to help elevate a program in the “Peak TV” era.
And yet, the Emmys telecast lags far behind other major award shows. In addition to the 30 million viewers for the Oscars this year, the Grammys had nearly 20 million and the Golden Globes attracted an audience of 18.6 million.
One reason could be the sheer number of shows being produced. With so many quality shows on a number of different networks and streaming services, a lot of people have simply not heard of — let alone seen — many of the big winners.
“When you’re thinking about people in Birmingham or Des Moines, we have to face the reality that there are a lot of people out there who are just not going to be familiar with all the nominated content,” Don Mischer, a producer of this year’s Emmys, said in an interview last week.
That certainly did not apply to every winner on the stage Sunday night, however.
“Game of Thrones,” one of the most popular shows in all of television, won best drama for a fourth time.
