‘Tony Awards Present: Broadway’s Back’ Crash To All-Time Low Viewership Of 2.6M — Page 2

Neither you nor anyone knows when next year's Tony's are.

Aren't they almost always the second Sunday in June?

BrodyFosse123 said: "I only watched the fantastic first 2 hours on Paramount +, which seems to be the one being raved about for all the obvious reasons. I have recorded on my DVR this CBS broadcast, but not in any rush to watch it based on the comments. I’ll get around to it eventually. "

I hope you have a tablet because it's definitely bathroom viewong

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The Tonys was once promotional tool for Broadway show and set trends. Back in the day when TV ruled the roost it was a sure fire way to sell not only tickets, but also cast albums, makes songs from musicals into standards and turn stage stars into household names. Back in the day Broadway stars also toured with shows so people across the country could see them. It was a much more successful and cohesive model.

Now, it’s the other way around. Broadway courts well known actors and celebs to lure people to attend Broadway shows. Broadway stages really don’t create stars anymore. Even those who breakout from a Broadway career typically peak with some sitcom success and work steadily but they don’t become big stars. Most people don’t know who a Sutton, Kristin, Idina etc are. They might recognize a face but they don’t know who they are. Even with your remaining legends like Patti, Audra, Bernadette a majority of people don’t know who they are.

The Tonys, like most award shows are obsolete. They aren’t needed any longer from a marketing perspective. Network TV is one of the least effective ways of reaching people. They are done solely for the fans of a genre which makes putting them behind a paywall make the most sense. Make the fans pay for the Broadcast. A Tony doesn’t really do much for a career. Yes it gets you a pay raise initially when you return to your show but ask all the out of work and retired Tony, Oscar and Golden Globe winners what it really does for you. It’s a popularity contest for the field. Nothing more.

This year I didn’t pay for Paramount and I didn’t watch on CBS because I don’t have cable. I did just fine with the award updates, saw all the fashions of my faves on Instagram and watched all the things I wanted to see on social media and YouTube. They may not have fully succeeded based on what people have shared, but the old model doesn’t work.

Oh and PBS doesn’t have the money or the audience either. If they put the Tonys on PBS theyd need to do membership breaks throughout to tap into the demographics pockets.

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Like many things, FosseTharp, there is not a single and exclusive reason. It is not correct that "[t]hey didn’t put the Tonys on Paramount+ to get people to their new service." And it is not correct that "[t]hey put it on their streamer for the sole reason of being able to actually present the Tonys."