Taped Emmy Awards, seen in West, lowers viewership

The televised 59th Annual Emmy Awards on Sunday may be the least-watched in its history when final numbers are issued today, envisions Media Life.

Perhaps with next year’s 60th awards show, host Academy of Television Arts & Sciences and the network carrying the program will decide to go “live” to all parts of the U.S., as does the Academy Awards, comments Grumpy Editor.

Viewers in the East saw the awards as it happened on the Fox Network, complete with naughty words triggering bleeps and quickie blackouts.  Folks in the West saw the show via tape, three hours behind original airing --- and after results were being piped by news outlets, including national on-the-hour radio headlines.

No wonder, then, that in preliminary results, issued yesterday, the show averaged a 10.5 metered-market household rating and 16 share from 8 to 11:15 p.m. (that’s Eastern time), according to Nielsen, down 20 percent from last year’s 13.1/20 for the show then seen on the NBC network.  Other factors: competition from baseball and football games.  But there’s always competition, no matter when a show is aired.

Interestingly, the Emmy ceremonies honor excellence in TV programming.  Strange that TV programmers --- who know about ratings inside and out --- can’t figure out that such awards, especially after 59 years, should be presented “live” to viewers across the land.

So what was airing at 5 p.m. Pacific (8 p.m. Eastern) on the West Coast when the Emmy presentations got under way before cameras?

Dual reruns of “Friends.”