LOS ANGELES, Sept 24 — The US television audience for the Emmy Awards show, celebrating the best of television, slumped to 6.9 million viewers, its lowest ever level, but the show was a hit on social media.
According to Nielsen ratings data yesterday, the TV audience dropped by more than 32 per cent from last year's ceremony, which at the time was a record low of 10.2 million US viewers.
The Emmy awards, broadcast live on Fox on Sunday, awarded its highest honors to medieval fantasy drama and fan favourite Game of Thrones and quirky British comedy Fleabag.
The three-hour ceremony in Los Angeles was broadcast without a host against stiff competition from "Sunday Night Football on NBC which drew the largest audience on Sunday with 16.3 million viewers.
Major award shows have been losing ground with the public in recent years, although the Oscars in February, which featured performances by rock band Queen and Lady Gaga, bucked the trend by rising some 10 per cent to some 29.6 million US viewers.
Yet Nielsen and Fox data showed that despite the slump in TV viewers, the awards show was the most social programme across broadcast and cable television. Interactions on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram were up 11 per cent over 2018, the data showed.
On Twitter, Game of Thrones was the most tweeted about show, followed by social justice drama When They See Us, nuclear accident series Chernobyl, Fleabag and thriller Killing Eve.
Nielsen television ratings only count those watching at home, not in public bars, restaurants or other venues. — Reuters
