Emmy Award ratings surprise to the upside, boosted by big wins from 'The Crown,' 'Ted Lasso'

Television ratings for Sunday night's 73rd Primetime Emmy Awards survived another record-low — contrary to expectations and the recent history of other awards shows. Yahoo Finance's Alexandra Canal breaks it down.

Video Transcript

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ADAM SHAPIRO: There's a bit of a surprise at last night's Emmy Awards. And it wasn't the awards themselves, it were-- it were. I'm speaking English good today, ain't I? Let's bring in Ali Canal for Fame and Fortune to talk about how the ratings turned out. So how were they?

ALEXANDRA CANAL: Yeah, we had a bit of a ratings surprise. I think most people thought we were going to hit another record low. But according to the recent data from Nielsen, last night's ratings came in at 7.4 million viewers. That's a 16% boost from last year's 6.1 million viewers on ABC. That's the highest number since 2018 ceremony, which saw 10.2 million tuned in on NBC.

So I don't think a lot of people were expecting this. The show, it debuted on CBS. It also simultaneously debuted on Paramount Plus. And because of that, those signups, those streaming figures, they have not been released yet, but that is going to tell a better story when it comes to the show's overall performance. According to sources at deadline, those numbers were strong. So I think that once those come in, we'll have an even better idea just how many people tuned in.

But I don't think a lot of people are expecting this, they certainly surprised to the upside. It was a very long show. It was a little boring. I do understand why not a lot of people want to watch these things. But, you know, I think, maybe this goes to show that the shows that were available for awards, those are shows that people are excited about. They want to see if some of their favorites can win some big awards.

I know I was rooting for my favorite show of 2020, "Mare of Easttown". But, you know, like, hopefully, this means more good things for the Oscars, for the Golden Globes, and some of those other award shows we have coming up.

SEANA SMITH: "Mare of Easttown," Ali, that's still one that I need to watch. Let's talk about some of these winners. Because one of my favorites was actually one of the big winners of last night, "The Crown". But who else led the way?

ALEXANDRA CANAL: That's why last night, it was really all about "The Crown", "Queen's Gambit", "Ted Lasso" on Disney Plus. If we take a look at the wins by network, we see Netflix leading the way. They actually had a huge, huge night last night. The first time that they were actually able to overtake HBO in terms of those Emmy wins. 44 total wins, that's significantly ahead of those competitors. They already have HBO along with its streaming service, HBO Max with 19 wins, and Disney with 14, Apple TV Plus, 10, and NBC, 8.

Then we flip over to some of those top performing shows that helped these networks get there. As I mentioned, "The Crown", "Queen's Gambit" both Netflix originals tying for the best performing show of the night with 11 wins each, certainly helping out with Netflix's total count. And then "Saturday Night Live" eight wins, literally keeping NBC alive. One of the only traditional network cable providers in that top five since that show contributed to basically all of those network wins.

And then in fourth place, "Ted Lasso" with seven awards. "Ted Lasso" also securing some major wins in the comedy category. Best Actor, Best Supporting Actress, Best Supporting Actor, and Best Comedy. So really the bright spot for Apple TV plus, which has lagged behind those competitors, those streaming competitors in terms of content quantity along with signups.

And then finally, "The Mandalorian" on Disney Plus. They had seven wins. A lot of these coming from the Creative Arts Emmys. But the show still a cult favorite on that platform. I know "Wandavision", many people are disappointed that that Disney Plus favorite was shut out at the Primetime awards last night.

But, you know, we did have a very strong lineup this year. The talent was certainly there. Some other notable wins include my girl, Kate Winslet, winning Best Actress for a Miniseries for "Mare of Easttown". She did have to beat Anya Taylor-Joy from "The Queen's Gambit" to get there. So that was a great win for her. Also Jean Smart for her performance in "Hacks" on HBO. I've not seen that, but I heard it's very good.

But by and large, I think the Television Academy are very pleased that not only the ratings, but also the quality of the content and of these actors and actresses.

ADAM SHAPIRO: "Football is life." "Ted Lasso" fans will appreciate that.

ALEXANDRA CANAL: Huge "Ted Lasso" fan as well.

ADAM SHAPIRO: Some of us who were-- I'm loving the show. Some of us who were late to the Apple TV juggernaut, finally, Apple did something that would give us cause to smile. Don't get me started on the products. You know how I feel about that. Ali Canal, thank you so much.