Record low viewership for Emmy Awards in the U.S., but ratings up in Canada

NEW YORK – Television’s biggest night wasn’t that big in the U.S. A record-low audience of just under 10.2 million people watched the awards show that kicked off a new television season on Monday night.

The Nielsen company says that’s down from the virtually identical audiences of 11.4 million from the past two years.

Michael Che and Colin Jost of “Saturday Night Live” hosted the awards show on NBC. Amazon’s “The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel” became the first show from a streaming service to win best comedy, while HBO’s “Game of Thrones” was the top drama.

The dip in viewership follows a recent trend that also affected the Academy Awards and Grammys earlier this year.

In Canada, the Emmys aired on CTV where ratings were highest since 2014, according to Bell Media. Citing Numeris data, a network spokesperson says 1.8 million people watched the show and viewership was up 10 per cent over the previous year.

—With files from The Canadian Press