By Lynn Elber, Television Writer
LOS ANGELES (AP) --Hard-working Emmy Awards host Stephen Colbert and a Sean Spicer cameo helped the ceremony avoid a ratings slide but failed to significantly boost viewership.
Sunday’s Emmys on CBS drew 11.38 million viewers to rank as the week’s No. 6 program, according to Nielsen figures released Tuesday. That’s slightly more than last year’s audience of 11.3 million, which was a record low for the ceremony.
Colbert’s opening song-and-dance routine and extended monologue included a number of digs at President Donald Trump and an appearance by former White House press secretary Spicer, who arrived on stage with his own lectern and drew surprised gasps from the theater crowd.
While the NBC hit drama “This Is Us” was among the nominees, the field also had a number of more niche shows such as Hulu’s “The Handmaid’s Tale,” streaming TV’s first top drama winner. The increasingly splintered nature of TV is one reason the Emmys are challenged to draw a bigger audience.
The ceremony also competed with a top-ranked NFL game.
The football contest combined with two helpings of “America’s Got Talent” to give NBC the lead among networks, with an average 7 million viewers last week. Fox was second with 5.7 million, followed by CBS with 5.5 million; ABC, 3.8 million; Telemundo, 1.4 million; ION and Univision with 1.3 million each, and CW with 920,000.
Among cable channels, ESPN was top-ranked last week with an average 2.8 million viewers, followed by Fox News Channel with 2.1 million, MSNBC with 1.6 million and USA with 1.5 million.
ABC’s “World News Tonight” topped the evening newscasts with an average of 8.34 million viewers. NBC’s “Nightly News” had 8 million and the “CBS Evening News” had 6.8 million viewers.
Below are primetime viewership numbers compiled by Nielsen for Sept. 11-17. Listings include the week’s ranking and viewership.
1. NFL Football: Green Bay at Atlanta, NBC, 20.24 million.
2. “NFL Sunday Post-Game,” Fox, 13.96 million.
3. “America’s Got Talent” (Wednesday), NBC, 11.59 million.
4. “America’s Got Talent” (Tuesday), NBC, 11.57 million.
5. NFL Football: New Orleans at Minnesota, ESPN, 11.4 million.
6. “Emmy Awards,” CBS, 11.38 million.
7. “Sunday Night NFL Pre-Kick,” NBC, 10.25 million.
8. NFL Football: L.A. Chargers at Denver, ESPN, 9.95 million.
9. NFL Football: Houston at Cincinnati, NFLN, 8.1 million.
10. “60 Minutes,” CBS, 6.8 million.
11. “The Orville,” Fox, 6.63 million.
12. “The Big Bang Theory,” CBS, 6.43 million.
13. “Big Brother” (Wednesday), CBS, 6.39 million.
14. “Football Night in America, Part 3,” NBC, 6.18 million.
15. “Big Brother” (Thursday), CBS, 6.132 million.
16. “American Ninja Warrior,” NBC, 6.127 million.
17. “The Big Bang Theory” (Monday), CBS, 5.74 million.
18. “NCIS,” CBS, 5.23 million.
19. College Football: Clemson at Louisville, ABC, 5.06 million.
20. “Mom,” CBS, 4.98 million.
Alec Baldwin Urges Judge To Stand By Dismissal Of Involuntary Manslaughter Case In “Rust” Shooting
Alec Baldwin urged a New Mexico judge on Friday to stand by her decision to skuttle his trial and dismiss an involuntary manslaughter charge against the actor in the fatal shooting of a cinematographer on the set of a Western movie.
State District Court Judge Mary Marlowe Sommer dismissed the case against Baldwin halfway through a trial in July based on the withholding of evidence by police and prosecutors from the defense in the 2021 shooting of cinematographer Halyna Hutchins on the set of the film "Rust."
The charge against Baldwin was dismissed with prejudice, meaning it can't be revived once any appeals of the decision are exhausted.
Special prosecutor Kari Morrissey recently asked the judge to reconsider, arguing that there were insufficient facts and that Baldwin's due process rights had not been violated.
Baldwin, the lead actor and co-producer on "Rust," was pointing a gun at cinematographer Halyna Hutchins during a rehearsal when it went off, killing her and wounding director Joel Souza. Baldwin has said he pulled back the hammer — but not the trigger — and the revolver fired.
The case-ending evidence was ammunition that was brought into the sheriff's office in March by a man who said it could be related to Hutchins' killing. Prosecutors said they deemed the ammunition unrelated and unimportant, while Baldwin's lawyers alleged that they "buried" it and filed a successful motion to dismiss the case.
In her decision to dismiss the Baldwin case, Marlowe Sommer described "egregious discovery violations constituting misconduct" by law enforcement and prosecutors, as well as false testimony about physical evidence by a witness during the trial.
Defense counsel says that prosecutors tried to establish a link... Read More