The TV ratings for the Emmy Awards, like most awards shows, are well off their historical highs. Quite a number of factors are in the mix for the 2010 Emmy Awards that could increase or decrease this year's ratings.
What will really matter?
- Broadcast Date: The Emmy Awards will air on August 29. That's almost a month earlier than "usual", and only the second time in August since 1993. That's because NBC didn't want it in conflict with Sunday Night Football. Unfortunately, the only recent August telecast (2006) was also the first year that DVR viewing is included in the ratings, scrambling how predictive it might be.
- Broadcast Live Nationwide: The Emmy Awards will be broadcast live in all timezones. The Pacific and Mountain time zones contain about 20% of the nation's population. That introduces several potential factors that may largely cancel themselves out.
- Changed Format: The format of the show will be somewhat changed. Variety seems to think that's important. I doubt it matters much to the ratings.
- The Nominees: A wise man once wrote "the same shows, nobody watches, always win". Will this season's nominations help or hurt ratings, or not matter at all? Particularly since Conan O'Brien's Tonight Show was nominated for four Emmys, and the show will be aired on...
- The Network (NBC): Will viewers tune in to see some Conan/NBC drama? Plus, 2002's Emmy Awards on NBC in September were a bit above both the prior and the following year.
Here's a link to the rest of our posts on the Emmy Awards.
How do you think the 2010 Emmy Awards ratings will do this season?
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For reference, here are the historical Emmy Awards ratings since 1956:
| Household | Number of | Number of | **Cost per | |||||
| Day | Date | Time | Net | rating | Share | Homes | Viewers | 30 Sec Spot |
| SUN | 9/21/09 (DVR) | 8:00PM-11:05PM | CBS | 8.7 | 14 | 10,015,000 | 13,471,000 | $395,000 |
| SUN | 9/21/08 (DVR) | 8:00PM-11:00PM | ABC | 8.2 | 13 | 9,371,000 | 12,339,000 | $284,000 |
| SUN | 9/16/07 (DVR) | 8:00PM-11:14PM | FOX | 8.4 | 14 | 9,445,000 | 12,951,000 | $583,100 |
| SUN | 8/27/06 (DVR) | 8:00PM-11:00PM | NBC | 10.6 | 17 | 11,669,000 | 16,184,000 | $435,000 |
| SUN | 9/18/05 | 8:00PM-11:03PM | CBS | 12.5 | 20 | 13,760,000 | 18,683,000 | $528,100 |
| SUN | 9/19/04 | 8:00PM-10:58PM | ABC | 9.4 | 15 | 10,336,000 | 13,788,000 | $441,900 |
| SUN | 9/21/03 | 8:00PM-11:05PM | FOX | 11.8 | 19 | 12,751,000 | 17,937,000 | $520,000 |
| SUN | 9/22/02 | 8:00PM-11:15PM | NBC | 13.5 | 21 | 14,397,000 | 19,987,000 | $475,000 |
| SUN | 11/4/01 | 8:00PM-11:04PM | CBS | 11.4 | 16 | 12,045,000 | 17,117,000 | $383,400 |
| SUN | 9/10/00 | 8:00PM-11:05PM | ABC | 14.2 | 23 | 14,554,000 | 21,798,000 | $424,400 |
| SUN | 9/12/99 | 8:00PM-11:00PM | FOX | 11.7 | 19 | 11,777,000 | 17,454,000 | $400,000 |
| SUN | 9/13/98 | 7:00PM-11:01PM | NBC | 13.6 | 23 | 13,526,000 | 19,365,000 | $323,000 |
| SAT | 9/14/97 | 8:00PM-11:01PM | CBS | 13.5 | 21 | 13,264,000 | 18,774,000 | $327,900 |
| SUN | 9/8/96 | 8:00PM-11:00PM | ABC | 14.4 | 23 | 13,962,000 | 20,582,000 | $242,000 |
| SUN | 9/10/95 | 8:00PM-11:00PM | FOX | 12.4 | 20 | 11,892,000 | 18,041,000 | $277,900 |
| SUN | 9/11/94 | 8:00PM-11:02PM | ABC | 14.6 | 23 | 13,928,000 | 21,246,000 | $223,000 |
| SUN | 9/19/93 | 8:00PM-11:01PM | ABC | 13.6 | 21 | 12,811,000 | 18,900,000 | $221,600 |
| SUN | 8/30/92 | 8:00PM-11:32PM | FOX | 13.9 | 24 | 12,802,000 | 20,415,000 | Not Available |
| SUN | 8/25/91 | 8:00PM-11:04PM | FOX | 12.5 | 22 | 11,640,000 | 18,507,600 | Not Available |
| SUN | 9/16/90 | 8.00PM-11:15PM | FOX | 8.2 | 14 | 7,630,000 | 12,299,566 | Not Available |
| SUN | 9/17/89 | 8.00PM-11:00PM | FOX | 11.4 | 19 | 10,500,000 | 17,209,500 | Not Available |
| SUN | 8/28/88 | 8.00PM-11:22PM | FOX | 10.4 | 18 | 9,210,000 | 15,426,750 | Not Available |
| SUN | 9/20/87 | 8.00PM-11:00PM | FOX | 8.8 | 14 | 7,800,000 | 14,383,200 | Not Available |
| SUN | 9/21/86 | 8.00PM-11:01PM | NBC | 23.1 | 36 | 20,190,000 | 35,796,587 | $179,000 |
| SUN | 9/22/85 | 8.00PM-11:00PM | ABC | 18.6 | 29 | 15,980,000 | Not Available | $170,000 |
| SUN | 9/23/84 | 9.04PM-12:39PM | CBS | 17.1 | 33 | 14,520,000 | 20,284,440 | $198,900 |
| SUN | 9/25/83 | 8.00PM-11:22PM | NBC | 18.0 | 30 | 15,080,000 | 24,505,000 | $160,000 |
| SUN | 9/19/82 | 8.00PM-11:04PM | ABC | 21.7 | 35 | 18,080,000 | 33,014,080 | |
| SUN | 9/13/81 | 8.00PM-11:03PM | CBS | 22.3 | 37 | 18,170,000 | Not Available | |
| SUN | 9/7/80 | 9.00PM-12:02AM | NBC | 15.0 | 29 | 11,670,000 | Not Available | |
| SUN | 9/9/79 | 8.30PM-11:10PM | ABC | 27.3 | 45 | 20,830,000 | Not Available | |
| SUN | 9/17/78 | 8.27PM-10:30PM | CBS | NL | ||||
| SUN | 9/17/78 | 11.03PM-12:34AM | CBS | 18.3 | 33 | 13,630,000 | Not Available | |
| MON | 5/17/76 | 9.00PM-11:40PM | ABC | 25.3 | 42 | 17,610,000 | 31,381,020 | |
| MON | 5/19/75 | 9.00PM-11:05PM | CBS | 25.0 | 44 | 17,130,000 | 30,834,000 | |
| WED | 9/4/74 | 10.00PM-11:40PM | ABC | 10.0 | 21 | 6,850,000 | Not Available | |
| SUN | 5/20/73 | 9:00PM-11:10PM | ABC | 29.0 | 49 | 18,790,000 | Not Available | |
| SUN | 5/6/72 | 10:00PM-12:15AM | CBS | 25.1 | 54 | 15,590,000 | Not Available | |
| SUN | 5/9/71 | 10:00PM-12:00AM | NBC | 30.3 | 59 | 18,210,000 | Not Available | |
| SUN | 6/7/70 | 9:00PM-11:20PM | ABC | 21.4 | 42 | 12,520,000 | Not Available | |
| SUN | 6/8/69 | 10:00PM-12:05AM | CBS | 23.2 | 50 | 13,220,000 | Not Available | |
| SUN | 5/19/68 | 9:00PM-11:00PM | NBC | 27.9 | 53 | 15,600,000 | Not Available | |
| SUN | 6/4/67 | 9:00PM-11:15PM | ABC | 24.1 | 45 | 13,230,000 | Not Available | |
| SUN | 5/22/66 | 10:00PM-11:45PM | CBS | 30.3 | 58 | 16,300,000 | Not Available | |
| SUN | 9/12/65 | 10:00PM-12:00AM | NBC | 25.1 | 51 | 13,500,000 | Not Available | |
| MON | 5/25/64 | 10:00PM-11:30PM | NBC | 31.9 | 65 | 16,360,000 | Not Available | |
| SUN | 5/26/63 | 10:00PM-11:50PM | NBC | 29.8 | 63 | 14,840,000 | Not Available | |
| TUE | 5/22/62 | 10:00PM-11:50PM | NBC | 28.1 | 61 | 13,769,000 | Not Available | |
| TUE | 5/16/61 | 10:00PM-11:30PM | NBC | 32.7 | 64 | 15,336,000 | Not Available | |
| * PRIOR TO 1961 RATINGS WERE CALCULATED ACCORDING TO EACH NETWORK'S UNIVERSE. | ||||||||
| THEREFORE, EACH NETWORK'S RATING WAS A PERCENTAGE OF ITS OWN UNIVERSE | ||||||||
| WED | 5/6/59 | 10:00PM-11:30PM | NBC | 33.3 | 57 | Not Available | Not Available | |
| TUE | 4/15/58 | 10:00PM-11:30PM | NBC | 33.5 | 59 | Not Available | Not Available | |
| SUN | 3/16/57 | 9:00PM-10:30PM | NBC | 27.2 | 41 | Not Available | Not Available | |
| SUN | 3/17/56 | 9:00PM-10:30PM | NBC | 29.8 | 44 | Not Available | Not Available | |
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**Cost Per Thousand books not available for years 1987,1988,1989,1990,1991 and 1992
NL stands for ‘next listing’ which signifies the telecast had a time interruption and the rating data is reported in the next entry listed in this column.
Source: NTI Pocketpieces, Nielsen Audience Composition Reports and Nielsen Galaxy Explorer, Ad expenditure data from Nielsen Monitor-Plus.
Copyright 2009 The Nielsen Company
(DVR) - 2006-2009 ratings are Live +Same Day Viewing Estimates Include DVR Playback On The Same Day, Defined As 3AM-3AM. All other years ratings are Live viewing.
