COMMENTARY

Media Make Excuses for Emmys’ Record-Low Audience – Here’s the Real Reason for It

Craig Bannister | January 17, 2024

Liberal media are trying to explain away the 2024 Emmys television audience plummeting to a record low, but they’re ignoring the main reason for the disastrous dive in viewership.

Monday night’s broadcast on Fox averaged a record-low 4.3 million viewers and an all-time low with 18-49 year-olds, according to Nielsen’s fast report. That’s down 27% and 22%, respectively, from the previous record lows set by the last Emmys, held in 2022.

A host of entertainment media, such as Variety and The Hollywood Reporter, are blaming the drop in viewership on competition from an NFL playoff game, the Iowa caucus, and a four-month delay due to entertainment-industry strikes.

But, while that may be a factor, it doesn’t account for a 1.6 million-viewer decline from the previous ceremony’s record low – and begs the following question:

How many NFL fans and people who watch political caucuses are also devotees of entertainment awards shows, like the Emmys?

Monday’s Emmys even lost out to a re-run of NCIS on CBS, which pulled in 4.9 million viewers – over a half-million more than Monday’s awards show broadcast.

What’s more, 2024’s record-low viewership isn’t an isolated incident – it’s the continuation of a long-term trend. Emmy television audiences have set all-time lows in five of the past six awards ceremonies.

The real driving force behind the Emmys’ ever-shrinking audience is much more profound: the shows are alienating potential viewers with offensive content and political propaganda.

Here’s just a sampling of what viewers were subjected to during Monday’s 2024 Emmys broadcast:

 

Finally, viewers who want political programming don’t need the Emmys for it – they can tune in to any of a number of cable and broadcast news networks, without having to endure hours of Hollywood’s self-adulation.

Thus, the real competition the Emmys faced wasn’t the NFL or the Iowa caucus – it came from programs dedicated to providing political propaganda and those that offered family-friendly entertainment.