The CBS telecast of the Tony Awards drew 4.3 million viewers on Sunday evening, the second consecutive yr that the printed has seen a bump within the scores, in accordance with Nielsen.
The modest improve in viewership at a second the place individuals are fleeing broadcast tv qualifies as a win as of late. And the truth that the Tonys gained viewers share is a part of a development the place award exhibits have stopped the bleeding after years of steep losses. This yr’s Oscars and Grammy Awards each increased their viewership, too.
Still, for the Tonys, which is a comparatively area of interest ceremony in comparison with extra in style awards exhibits, Sunday’s scores signify the third-lowest viewership whole since data have been saved. Last yr’s ceremony drew 3.9 million viewers.
The proven fact that the Tonys occurred in any respect took no small effort. Just a month in the past, the televised ceremony was in jeopardy after the union representing 1000’s of placing movie and tv writers — who’ve been on strike in opposition to the main Hollywood studios since May 2, arguing that their wages have stagnated regardless of the streaming manufacturing increase — threatened to picket the occasion.
The writers have deployed aggressive tactics to harm the studios in the course of the strike, and a stay occasion broadcast on CBS was lining as much as be a superb goal. (The writers had already efficiently disrupted the MTV Movie & TV Awards final month, which prompted the cancellation of the stay ceremony; MTV and CBS share the identical company father or mother, Paramount.)
But a group of playwrights lobbied leaders of the Writers Guild of America, the union representing the writers, arguing that the cancellation of the occasion would damage the theater industry greater than it will damage CBS. The Tony Awards signify an important advertising and marketing device for Broadway because it nonetheless makes its gradual restoration out of the pandemic. Given the comparatively low viewership of the Tonys, the present has at all times been extra of a status play for CBS than a revenue machine.
The W.G.A. relented, and the tip end result was an awards present that went heavy on stay performances and introductory movies, and went with out scripted materials or pre-written bits. Presenters did little greater than introduce themselves and announce the nominees and winners. The placing writers got repeated shout-outs all through the evening.
W.G.A. leaders expressed approval on Monday morning, with the union’s Eastern department tweeting, “A giant congratulations, and a giant thanks to the Tony Award winners who stood with the #WGAstrike of their speeches. Thank you to attendees sporting #WGAstrong pins, and to everybody who confirmed solidarity with the writers throughout final evening’s unscripted awards present.”
The unscripted ceremony, which was hosted by Ariana DeBose, was largely properly acquired. Jesse Green, The New York Times’s theater critic, observed, “Previous Tonys telecasts have typically wasted their ‘bumpers’ — the gaps between the tip of a giant efficiency or award and the commercials that observe — with unconvincing scripted nonsense. Guess what? No script, no nonsense.”
In 2021, the Tony Awards drew a document low of two.8 million viewers when the pandemic-altered ceremony aired in September, three months later than its conventional mid-June slot. The highest-rated Tony Awards lately was in 2016, when a “Hamilton”-fueled ceremony had an viewers of 8.7 million viewers.
The top-rated markets for Sunday’s telecast had been, so as, New York, West Palm Beach, Fla., and San Francisco, in accordance with Nielsen.
Content Source: www.nytimes.com