If you missed the Emmys on Monday night, you were in good company: the vast majority of America never even tuned into the television awards show. In fact, after last year’s dismal ratings decline, this year’s ratings were somehow even worse, falling to a new and far worse record low.
As background, the once-popular awards shows like the Emmys and Golden Globes have been declining for years, with wokeness, movies and shows that most find uninteresting, and a decline in cable TV watchers doing them no favors. Further, Covid was a major problem for them, with many people tuning out and crashing the ratings for them to record lows.
But, some have managed to bounce back from their Covid-era lows, if only slightly. Not the Emmys, however. After a brutal 2023, the awards show saw an even worse 2024, with ratings falling more than a quarter compared to last year and down 37% since the Emmys were last aired on Fox in 2019.
Data on the show’s ratings comes from Deadline, which used Nielsen’s ratings to report that only 4.3 million total viewers tuned into the Monday night Emmys aired by Fox despite it being the awards show’s 75th anniversary, which should have drawn interest and viewers.
But, unfortunately for the woke entertainment industry, even an anniversary couldn’t save them. Rather, that 4.3 million viewership number represented a 27% decline in viewership from the 2023 Emmys. Yet worse, the ratings were down 37% from the 2019 Emmys, the last time Fox hosted the show.
That year’s 6.9 million viewers were then an all-time low for the awards show. In 2023, the 74th Emmys brought in just 5.9 million viewers, a record low and 19 percent decline from the previous record low of 6.4 million viewers from 2020.
And the 4.3 million viewership number is put in an even worse light by the 2018 ceremony, when NBC managed to bring in 10.17 million viewers. That year is important not just because of NBC’s good results, but because it occurred on a Monday night, meaning that it too had to contend with going up against Monday night football, one of the reasons given for this year’s poor performance.
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RuPaul, a drag advocate, was one of the winners of this year’s Emmys. Speaking during the awards show, RuPaul said, “If a drag queen wants to read you a story at a library, listen to her, because knowledge is power, and if someone tries to restrict your access to power, they are trying to scare you. So listen to a drag queen.”
The “Human Rights Campaign,” tweeting about RuPaul’s speech, said, “’If someone is trying to restrict your access to power, they are trying to scare you.’ Can we get an amen? Wise words from @RuPaul and @RuPaulsDragRace on the importance of protecting our power as LGBTQ+ people in the face of anti-drag attacks. #Emmys” Human Rights Campaign describes itself by saying, “HRC is the nation’s largest LGBTQ+ civil rights organization. We envision a world where LGBTQ+ people are ensured equality at home, at work & in every community”
Watch the video of RuPaul’s speech here:
🇺🇸Television personality and drag queen RuPaul used his speech at the Emmys to advocate for drag queens reading to children at libraries.#USA #Emmys #Emmys2024 #EmmyAwards #RuPaulsDragRace #RuPaul #dragqueen #dragqueenstoryhour #LGBT pic.twitter.com/YTKJJklCFl
— Attentive Media (@AttentiveCEE) January 17, 2024
Featured image credit: screengrab from the embedded video