CMU School of Drama


Friday, July 05, 2019

BY THE NUMBERS: Is it the show itself or awards shows in general?

The Producer's Perspective: The Tony Awards telecast took some shots from the press this year, many of which I still can’t understand. I enjoyed the show, as I wrote about here, and most theatergoers I spoke to did as well, including you.

The most quantifiable piece of criticism was (on the surface) the ratings. “Viewership 10% down,” headlines screamed. “Will CBS drop the show?” articles asked, like teenagers gossiping about whether or not the most popular couple in school would break up.

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

I think that this article is spot on about why the viewing of the Tony awards is down. I personally watch the awards but I know a lot of people who would rather just look for the highlights as watching a 3-hour telecast can be difficult for some people. Another thing that I agree with from the article is that people would like to watch the awards on their own schedule and not live which also decreases viewer numbers. The article mentions that viewers for all three major award shows have been dropping due to the fact that millennials are watching less TV and as long as this is the case for all of the shows, the Tony awards shouldn't be in any danger of being dropped. Another thing that is mentioned in the article is that show attendance is up and that's all that matters. Something that I find interesting is that no one is saying that the Grammys are in danger of being dropped but this is probably because it is a much bigger show than the Tonys.

Ben Hirschfield