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| Host Garry Shandling goes through his monologue
as the broadcast directors work above the stage during the 56th
annual Primetime Emmy Awards at the Shrine Auditorium in Los
Angeles, September 19, 2004.
(Reuters) | ABC's telecast of the 56th
annual Primetime Emmy Awards proved to be one of the least watched
editions of the show in years, with 14 million viewers tuning in, according to preliminary
figures on Monday.
If those numbers hold up in final data to be reported Tuesday by
Nielsen Media Research, ABC's Emmy audience Sunday night would fall 3
million viewers shy of the low-rated 2001 show on CBS, which aired
opposite the final game of the World Series.
According to the
Hollywood Reporter, Sunday's broadcast attracted the Emmys' smallest
audience since the show aired in 1990 on the then-fledgling Fox network,
averaging just 12.3 million viewers.
CBS managed to surpass ABC
for Sunday night as a whole with its prime-time slate of "60 Minutes" and
drama reruns, according to Nielsen, though CBS also benefited from a
heavily watched football game that ran over into prime time.
Still, it was ABC's biggest Sunday night audience in about 18
months, not counting sports programs and the Academy Awards, the network said.
This year's three-hour show, hosted by comedian Garry Shandling,
was dominated by HBO victories as gangster series "The Sopranos" finally
won the coveted prize for best drama and the landmark production "Angels
in America" clinched a record 11 Emmys for a miniseries.
The fact
that the Emmys were swept by HBO, a premium cable network that reaches a
fraction of the total U.S. television audience, may have dampened interest
in this year's show.
ABC itself has struggled in the ratings in
recent years, and executives at corporate parent the Walt Disney Co. have
promised to turn around the loss-making network. ABC finished last season
in fourth place behind its three biggest rivals in the ratings race for
viewers aged 18 to 49.
The Emmy awards broadcast drew nearly 17.9
million viewers last year on Fox and 19.8 million in 2002 on
NBC.
(Agencies) |
Updated: 2004-09-21 14:38