Emmy Awards Show Hits Ratings Rock Bottom as 'Black Lives Matter' Takes Center Stage
The politically and racially-charged 2020 Emmy Awards on ABC experienced a record low in viewership Sunday night, according to initial ratings.
Variety reported the 72nd Primetime Emmy Awards, which was without a live audience at the Staples Center in downtown Los Angeles, averaged just a 1.2 rating in the key demographic of adults age 18-49, and attracted only 6.1 million overall viewers.
The 2019 Emmys saw the annual TV awards show hit rock bottom with only 6.9 million overall viewers, which Vulture reported at the time was the least-watched Emmys ever.
But Sunday’s identity politics-centric show, hosted by ABC’s Jimmy Kimmel, saw a drop off of roughly 12 percent from the previous low in viewers, and 25 percent drop in the advertiser-sought demo.
The 65th Emmys in 2013 averaged a 4.9 in the demo and 17.6 million overall viewers, Variety reported.
The Emmys show Sunday was without the usual red carpet glamour and pageantry due to the coronavirus, and also faced being pitted against “Sunday Night Football” and the NBA Western Conference finals game between the Los Angeles Lakers and the Denver Nuggets.
The NFL is dealing with its own ratings decline, as is the NBA, after both leagues embraced politics during games upon their return.
Sunday night’s NFL game between the Seattle Seahawks and the New England Patriots was no exception.
The close primetime matchup missed the mark in initial ratings.
Deadline reported:
“‘SNF’ took a tumble, pulling in 14.09 million viewers in the early metrics and a 4.2 in the ratings. That is down 5% in audience and 11% in the demo from the early numbers of last week’s official SNF season debut.”
Last week’s Sunday night game between the Dallas Cowboys and the Los Angeles Rams was also a ratings low, with only 14.81 million viewers.
The game was down almost 10 million overall viewers compared to a similar Cowboys matchup last September against the New Orleans Saints, which attracted 24.7 million viewers.
The Emmys broke a record on Sunday, becoming the least-watched Emmys awards show in history.
Like the NFL and the NBA, the Emmys and Kimmel embraced leftists politics.
Millions of potential viewers missed out on moments such as actor Anthony Anderson repeating the phrase “Black Lives Matter” with Kimmel.
Anderson at one point encouraged Kimmel to repeat the phrase louder, “so that Mike Pence can hear it.”
.@AnthonyAnderson was looking forward to the blackest #Emmys ever… #BlackLivesMatter pic.twitter.com/HFcTp1OfHR
— Jimmy Kimmel (@jimmykimmel) September 21, 2020
The moment was not the only politically-charged moment from the Emmys.
Kimmel said of the empty Staples Center, “Of course we don’t have an audience. This isn’t a MAGA rally. It’s the Emmys.”
“Of course I’m here all alone. Of course we don’t have an audience,” Kimmel said. “This isn’t a MAGA rally — it’s the Emmys.” https://t.co/Xy2B2OdF4W
— The Hill (@thehill) September 21, 2020
Actor Mark Ruffalo later spoke about “privilege” and voting while accepting an award.
“We have to come together with love for each other, and if you have privilege, you have to fight for those who are less fortunate and more vulnerable,” he said. “That’s what’s great about America, our diversity, and the one thing I’ve learned in my family is that we are stronger together, when we love each other and we respect each other’s diversity.”
Ruffalo then urged viewers to “vote for love and compassion and kindness.”
Jesse Armstrong, who joined remotely from London, won the award for Outstanding Writing for a Drama Series, and blasted President Donald Trump and British Prime Minster Boris Johnson over the coronavirus with a series of “un-thank yous.”
“Un-thank you to President Trump, for his crummy and uncoordinated response [to the coronavirus], un-thank you to Boris Johnson and his government for doing the same in my country,” he said.
favorite part was when Jesse Armstrong called out Trump during his acceptance speech for Best Drama Series for SUCCESSION. #VoteTrumpOut @realDonaldTrump #Trump #maga pic.twitter.com/uTMeM951N2
— Adam Keleman (@ABKman) September 21, 2020
“Un-thank you to the nationalist and quasi-nationalist governments in the world doing sort of the opposite of what we need right now,” he continued. “And Un-thank you to the media moguls who do so much to keep them in power,”
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