Tony Award Viewership Decline Over the Years — Page 2

ErmengardeStopSniveling said: "DramaTeach said: "Much of what you’re all saying is true - TV viewership is down in general, but there are things that can be done to promote the show that were not.

1) I saw no advertisements (TV, billboards, etc.) to promote this. Nobody in my circle knew it was happening.Of course there was advertising and press coverage leading up to it. Just because you don’t see it doesn’t mean it doesn’t exist :) Of course there was some, but I’m someone who’s pretty on top of social media and TV, so if I didn’t see it, it’s not a good sign.

2) Announce presenters/performers earlier. That way, all of those people can promote the awards on their socials to get people excited.Hard to announce these people in advance because it’s not a lucrative gig nor is it anyone’s first priority and people drop out or say yes at the last second. There’s not much to promote, either, aside from live “get ready with me” content for a select demo of people. The novelty of seeing a celebrity on TV is gone in a social media age. I agree that there’s no as much excitement about promotion, but at least people are then aware.

3) Include a mix of modern, young talent and the legends. Invite Bernadette, Patti (I know she’s not loved by all), Bette, etc. to mix it up with the younger talent. Let them pass the baton, so it appeals to all ages. Just because someone doesn’t appear on the telecast doesn’t mean they weren’t asked! No doubt they tried for all the biggest names you can think of. I agree that some were probably asked, but as they’re getting older, we need to reach out as much as possible. The Tony’s are Broadway’s biggest, so I hope next year some will come out.

4) Get a host that people know. DeBose is known by Broadway people, and yes, she won an Oscar for it, but West Side Story was a box office failure, so the rest of the country doesn’t know her.This is the point we can all agree on.

5) Choose a date that’s NOT Father’s Day!I don’t know if this means a thing. If people are interested enough, they’ll watch. House of the Dragon is probably a bigger factor than Father’s Day. Yes, if you want to watch you will. You’ll DVR it or catch up on steaming later, but ratings are based on live numbers, so I do think it matters.

These won’t solve all problems, but I think they’d help."

"

I appreciate your thoughts too. Agree to disagree on some.

BrodyFosse123 said: "As an avid Broadway aficionado since I saw my first Broadway show at age 7 in 1972 (Bob Fosse’s original cast of PIPPIN), I haven’t watched the Tony Awards for about a decade now. Zero interest and I just read who won the next morning. I might venture over to YouTube to watch a particular talked-about acceptance speech or performance but like many, we just don’t have the interest to watch the Tony Awards anymore."

It makes me wonder if the Tony Awards are more for the fans than for New Yorkers who can readily see a Broadway show and/or have experience as young children being exposed to Broadway.  I live in a state where at the state level, the arts are being cut in both funding and in requirements in schools.  Can Broadway rely on "growing their own" or will they need to attract a broader audience?

 

I think having a good host will at least get theater people to watch it.  I don’t expect them to get the masses to tune in, but they’re losing even their fan base.  

I think we need to go back to finding a reason for people to tune in live.  I live in NYC and see most of the Broadway shows and I enjoy the predictions game and also just seeing the Tonys at a watch party with other people.  But most people (even if they're theater fans) aren't like that.  Like some have mentioned in this thread, a lot of people will just catch the performances afterwards on Youtube.  So the thing that would make people tune in is probably more of if they have a stake in the awards or think something surprising's going to happen.

I think this could speak to how well publicized Broadway shows are nationally.  I'm in the NYC bubble now, but how many people outside of this board even knew what musicals were up for Best Musical?  Were people even aware that Daniel Radcliffe would be performing and also be slated for a win?  Add to that the general disillusionment of award shows overall and the idea that Broadway is getting too commercial, and I think the overall model would need to change to see any major difference in ratings.  (Also the two separate shows on two separate services probably didn't help.)

I think a lot of the suggestions in this thread are good, like actually getting better material for the host to do.  I liked Ariana Debose the past couple of years and I think in general she has a good amount of charisma, but I think she fell flat here (not helped by that opening number either--which she did have a fairly large hand in writing).  It would've been nice to tie it to the current shows/season rather than just a generic idea.  I actually thought Julianne Hough did a pretty good job in Act One with her presenting.

Was it just me or were there more presenters here than normal?  Like it seemed like we had presenters just to present other presenters.  People keep talking about how there were more performances than usual, but were there really?  Only the best musical/revival shows performed and then the opening number (plus the 90 seconds Stereophonic got), but isn't that standard?  I guess the HK performance got more time than a normal performance, but some years we've had a small performance in the middle from the host, or a closing number so I don't think the performance time was significantly more than other years.  EDIT: forgot to include the Chita tribute in my count, but still

Updated On: 6/18/24 at 12:04 PM

Streaming has not been able to replace "Linear TV" as a revenue source. TV went from an old format to a new one but never figured out how to continue making money. 

CBS seems to be incompatible with the too many streaming services I use so I wasn't able to view. I did see the opening number on YouTube and it reminded me of a more diverse "Milford Plaza" advertisement from the 1980s.

 

Kad said: "BroadwayPatriot said: "Broadway Flash said: "It was also Father’s Day and later than usual this year. Lots of people are on vacation. I didn’t see any ads for the ceremony either. Stephen Colbert should absolutely host next year, I think he’d get the ratings up."

Do you know Colbert barely had 2 million viewers a night ? He is not popular and nobody cares about him - 2 million people in a country of 333 million- most people want nothing to do with anything political right or left - Colbert is the worst late night show ever , period and nobody cares about it,"

Colbert's ratings are in line with the other late night shows and the Late Show is consistently the highest rated of all of them."

Still the numbers are garbage , he isn’t popular and him hosting the TONY awards would not increase the ratings , Colbert peaked in 2006 on Comedy Central, he was actually funny at that point , it’s amazing they pay him still, literally nobody watches his show , anyone can draw these numbers based on the guests, he has on ,  you can take anyone who can speak clearly and get the same ratings, it’s a joke 

Even if you put the politics aside, I’ve always thought he was funny and talented and good at what he does.  I don’t think he’s aggressively political either.  I loved his joke from the Tony’s a few years ago. 
 

 

also my prediction is that once the cbs contract is up the tony awards go completely to streaming

for such a huge event the year over year decline in ratings is really concerning

like everything else the viewing audience is getting divided up into smaller and smaller pieces of the pie

 

 

It strikes me that the answer to this question is increasingly becoming, "who cares about the Tonys as a media event?" Until about 2012, it used to be that if you wanted to see Broadway theatre but you weren't in NYC, there were two days a year you could do it: the Macy's Day Parade, and the Tony Awards. But this exposure drought was mostly due to the old guard media's reluctance to embrace new media, streaming and video on demand. Around that point, YouTube and social media marketing began highlighting the shows, with full numbers often available to view. (Not to mention a rise in bootleg culture and availability.)

Since then, even Saturday Night Live has realized there is no "water cooler broadcast TV" anymore: watch events like this are almost loss leaders, getting eyes on the digital content where the advertising money probably is.

Re: the Oscars, they were actually up in viewership this year and have grown considerably over the past three years from their all-time low in 2021.

Regarding this years Tonys, I didn't watch, as we had evening family plans for Father's Day - I suspect  a fair amount of people had similar circumstances. Being up against the highly anticipated House Of The Dragon premiere probably didn't help either.

I know for some people I know there's just no interest in watching the Tonys if you haven't seen all, or even some, of the nominated shows. For folks outside the NYC area, it's like why tune in for three hours to watch an awards show celebrating theater productions that you haven't seen? Especially if none of them have a lot of buzz like this season's crop of shows. And sure, some of them may tour in a year or so, but many (especially the plays) won't. So it's hard to convince a lot of people to dedicate their time to watching - especially when they make it so confusing and hard to watch on streaming.

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MezzoDiva47 said: "BroadwayPatriot said: "

Do you know Colbert barely has2 million viewers a night ? He is not popular and nobody cares about him - 2 million people in a country of 333 million- most people want nothing to do with anything political right or left - Colbert is the worst late night show ever , period and nobody cares about it,"


wow

are you maga

this sounds like a trump social media post

colbert is doing quite well and has had a dedicated fan base for almost two decades. cbs is not worried about his ratings and he is not worried about losing his job anytime soon

donald trump is the best thing to happen to late night comedians because the jokes write themselves

"

I'm  nothing, I'm normal and not in the D or R cult, you are in a cult if part of your identiy is your  political party, I'm  more interested in feeding my cats  and working than Trump or Biden, again Colbert has 2 million vewers, without Trump I agree it would be even lower , probably 1.5 million, Most people want nothing to do with the Democrat or Republican cults. Literally  Colbert's numbers are the same as the average Fox News indoctrination broadcast ( can't name the shows on Fox off hand, have not watched it in like 10 years)  but yeah the same garbage numbers, 2 million people. So how is a show on networtk successful if it has the same numbers as cable news? People are tired of TV that isolates and insults people based on what political cult they are in, things are changing, Colbert is an outdated show, based on hating others, it is boring , 2 million people still cling on to the hate. Colbert turned late night TV into CNN,MSNBC FOX, it is lame, and unless you are in the hrdcore Democrqt cult, nobody is watching Colbert . Colbert=Hanninty, same garbage, differnt delivery and different cult 

ErmengardeStopSniveling said: "Live-streaming awards shows like the SAGs on Netflix still haven't figured out alternatives to commercial breaks. Commercials ARE helpful and givethe audience and the people involved a breather. It becomes a long night without commercials."

I think a thoughtful way to go about creating the sense of a commercial break is to offer two minute interviews with the lesser known folks - designers, choreographers, book writers, etc. It will allow people to tune out for the same amount of time but, for those who are obsessed (hand raised), it can provide a deeper dive into the experience. 

BroadwayPatriot said: "literally nobody watches his show "

In a separate post, you wrote "Colbert has 2 million vewers [sic]". Do you know what the word "literally" means?

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Updated On: 6/18/24 at 02:39 PM