Like most awards shows, the Tony Awards TV ratings are past their prime, but seem to have settled into an average viewership range between six and eight million viewers over the past decade.
Don't ask me to even hazard a guess as to what may have caused any recent year to year fluctuations, or what might happen this year, I'm even more clueless about the live theatre than most things.
We'll have the 2011 Tony Awards ratings posted as soon as we see them on Monday, but until then, give us a guess for this year's viewership:
Update: The preliminary viewership for the Tony Awards was 6.921 million. Our polled readers were on target.
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Tony Awards TV Ratings 1967-2010:
| Household | Number of | Number of | |||||
| Day | Date | Telecast Time | Net | rating | Share | Homes | Viewers |
| SUN | 6/13/2010* | 8:00PM-11:03PM | CBS | 4.4 | 8 | 5,113,000 | 6,984,000 |
| SUN | 6/07/2009* | 8:00PM-11:05PM | CBS | 4.8 | 8 | 5,532,000 | 7,417,000 |
| SUN | 6/15/2008* | 8:00PM-11:02PM | CBS | 4.4 | 8 | 4,958,000 | 6,268,000 |
| SUN | 6/10/2007* | 8:00PM-11:01PM | CBS | 4.2 | 7 | 4,613,000 | 5,704,000 |
| SUN | 6/11/2006* | 8:00PM-11:00PM | CBS | 5.2 | 9 | 5,722,000 | 7,716,000 |
| SUN | 6/5/05 | 8:00PM-11:00PM | CBS | 4.5 | 8 | 4,944,000 | 6,503,000 |
| SUN | 6/6/04 | 8:00PM-11:00PM | CBS | 4.6 | 8 | 4,975,000 | 6,464,000 |
| SUN | 6/8/03 | 8:00PM-11:00PM | CBS | 5.4 | 9 | 5,771,000 | 7,859,000 |
| SUN | 6/2/02 | 9:00PM-11:00PM | CBS | 5.6 | 9 | 5,900,000 | 7,983,000 |
| SUN | 6/3/01 | 9:00PM-11:00PM | CBS | 6.3 | 10 | 6,467,000 | 8,935,000 |
| SUN | 6/4/00 | 9:00PM-11:00PM | CBS | 6.2 | 10 | 6,221,000 | 8,504,000 |
| SUN | 6/6/99 | 9.00PM-11:00PM | CBS | 7.0 | 12 | 6,911,000 | 9,155,000 |
| SUN | 6/7/98 | 9.00PM-11:00PM | CBS | 8.4 | 14 | 8,232,000 | 11,748,000 |
| SUN | 6/1/97 | 9.00PM-11:01PM | CBS | 9.6 | 16 | 9,267,000 | 12,967,000 |
| SUN | 6/2/96 | 9.00PM-11.02PM | CBS | 6.5 | 11 | 6,273,000 | 8,750,000 |
| SUN | 6/4/95 | 9.00PM-11.00PM | CBS | 7.7 | 14 | 7,346,000 | 10,226,000 |
| SUN | 6/12/94 | 9.00PM-11.06PM | CBS | 7.7 | 14 | 7,253,000 | 10,475,000 |
| SUN | 6/6/93 | 9.00PM-11.05PM | CBS | 8.7 | 15 | 8,100,000 | 11,118,000 |
| SUN | 5/31/92 | 9.00PM-11.08PM | CBS | 8.9 | 16 | 8,197,000 | 11,721,000 |
| SUN | 6/2/91 | 9.00PM-11.20PM | CBS | 8.9 | 16 | 8,290,000 | 12,227,750 |
| SUN | 6/3/90 | 9.00PM-11.22PM | CBS | 7.6 | 13 | 7,000,000 | 10,120,000 |
| SUN | 6/4/89 | 9.00PM-11.19PM | CBS | 9.3 | 16 | 8,410,000 | 12,329,060 |
| SUN | 6/5/88 | 9.00PM-11.21PM | CBS | 9.5 | 17 | 8,420,000 | 12,099,540 |
| SUN | 6/7/87 | 9.00PM-11.37PM | CBS | 11.9 | 23 | 10,400,000 | |
| SUN | 6/1/86 | 9.00PM-11.22PM | CBS | 12.6 | 22 | 10,820,000 | |
| SUN | 6/2/85 | 9.00PM-11.28PM | CBS | 11.9 | 21 | 10,100,000 | |
| SUN | 6/3/84 | 9.00PM-11.22PM | CBS | 12.3 | 21 | 10,310,000 | |
| SUN | 6/5/83 | 9.00PM-11.27PM | CBS | 13.2 | 23 | 11,000,000 | |
| SUN | 6/6/82 | 9.00PM-11.13PM | CBS | 15.7 | 27 | 12,800,000 | |
| SUN | 6/7/81 | 9.00PM-11.26PM | CBS | 14.4 | 25 | 11,200,000 | |
| SUN | 6/8/80 | 9.30PM-11.24PM | CBS | 18.2 | 32 | 13,890,000 | |
| SUN | 6/3/79 | 9.30PM-11.15PM | CBS | 18.1 | 32 | 13,480,000 | |
| SUN | 6/4/78 | 9.30PM-11.10PM | CBS | 15.0 | 27 | 10,940,000 | |
| SUN | 6/5/77 | 9.00PM-11.38PM | ABC | 11.3 | 24 | 8,050,000 | |
| SUN | 4/18/76 | 9.00PM-11.35PM | ABC | 12.6 | 25 | 8,770,000 | 16,066,640 |
| SUN | 4/20/75 | 8.30PM-10.30PM | ABC | 15.1 | 24 | 10,340,000 | 17,939,900 |
| SUN | 4/21/74 | 9.00PM-12.00AM | ABC | 17.8 | 34 | 11,780,000 | 20,026,000 |
| SUN | 3/25/73 | 9:00PM-11:16PM | ABC | 14.9 | 25 | 9,660,000 | |
| 4/23/72 | Not Available | ABC | |||||
| SUN | 3/28/71 | 9:00PM- 11:20PM | ABC | 19.3 | 33 | 11,600,000 | |
| SUN | 4/19/70 | 10:00PM- 11:45PM | NBC | 19.6 | 41 | 11,470,000 | |
| SUN | 4/20/69 | 10:00PM-12:10AM | NBC | 14.1 | 34 | 8,040,000 | |
| 4/24/68 | Not Available | NBC | |||||
| SUN | 3/26/67 | 9:30PM- 10:40PM | ABC | 15.4 | 27.9 | 8,450,000 | |
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Notes: 1967 was first nationally telecast Tony Award ceremony. The ceremonies were broadcast over WOR radio and the Mutual network.
In 1956 the ceremony was first televised on DuMont's Channel 5.
Source: NTI Pocketpieces, Nielsen Audience Composition Reports and Nielsen Galaxy Explorer
Copyright 2011 The Nielsen Company
* Live +Same Day Viewing Estimates On This Page Include DVR Playback On The Same Day, Defined As 3AM-3AM
