Tony Telecast Receives Lowest Ratings Ever

Despite the presence of big-name host Hugh Jackman and a long list of luminaries from the worlds of stage and screen, the CBS broadcast of the Tony Awards hit a new ratings low in 2004, according to the fast overnights. The June 6 broadcast averaged a 4.7 household rating and an 8 share, which amounts to about 6.61 million viewers. The 2003 Tonys garnered a 6.1 rating and a 10 share.

As it does most every year, the ceremony went up against an NBA Final game, this year it was between the Detroit Pistons and the Los Angeles Lakers on ABC. Game coverage started at 8:30pm following a half-hour of America's Funniest Home Videos. Its competition on NBC was an episode of Dateline, a Law & Order repeat and a new episode of Crossing Jordan. At 8pm, Fox ran a rerun of The Simpsons and then went on to show a new Arrested Development, a repeat of Malcolm in the Middle and then a rerun of the first Arrested Development before going into its 10 o'clock nightly news. The big news in cable was the finale of The Sopranos on HBO, which surely ate away at Tony ratings even though its numbers are not currently available for comparison cable ratings work slightly differently than broadcast ratings.

Due in part to the great lead-in of 60 Minutes, the Tony Awards started the night off right, just as it did last year, winning the 8pm to 8:30pm slot with 6.2 rating and a 10 share. But it went downhill after that. From 8:30pm to 9pm it fell to a 5.8 rating and a 9 share. The last half hour, in which the climactic upset of the night happened when Avenue Q beat Wicked for Best Musical, had the evenings worst numbers-a 4.9 rating and an 8 share.

Usually the Tonys look good when the demographic breakdowns are available, as it skews to an educated, affluent audience. However those figures are not out as of yet.