Update 2: The 2013 Emmy Awards telecast posted a 4.9 adults 18-49 rating and 17.63 million viewers. It was the most-watched Emmys broadcast since 2005.
Update: Based on fast national data, this year’s Emmys telecast indeed improved upon last year’s number: it delivered a 4.3 adults 18-49 rating with 15.3 million viewers.
Note that because of the live airing–and a few minutes of football overrun–the fast national numbers are subject to revision.
Also note that the show bled viewers from start-to-finish. Its audience shrank with each passing half hour, dipping from a 5.6 rating with 19.3 million viewers at 8PM to a 3.3 with 11.7 million at 10:30PM.
The 2013-14 season does not even formally begin until Monday night, yet analysts have already seen the disconnect between overnight metered market ratings and the final viewership and adults 18-49 numbers.
Last Monday, the overnights greatly understated the impressive performance of new FOX entry “Sleepy Hollow.” They then overstated the modest performance of FOX’s new comedy “Dads” and, to a lesser extent, “Brooklyn Nine Nine.”
Given that, one would be strongly advised to take the overnight Emmy Awards telecast numbers with a grain of salt. One simply cannot project with certainty how a metered market number will translate into key demo ratings.
But if one is going to pay them mind, he should note that, according to TV Media Insights, the show delivered an impressive 12.1 metered market rating from 8-11PM.
That 12.1 rating, which roughly measures the show’s performance in households, marks a significant increase from last year’s 9.6. The 9.6, for ABC’s broadcast of the 2012 Emmy ceremony, translated into a 3.9 adults 18-49 rating with 13.3 million viewers. This year’s telecast looks clearly poised to improve upon those measures.
Though CBS’ airing of the 2013 Emmys benefited from a strong football lead-in, it also ran against the final episode of “Dexter” and penultimate episode of “Breaking Bad,” both of which provided stronger cable competition than was the case last year. Competition from NBC’s airing of the Bears-Steelers came, similarly, did not help matters.