'Sunday Night Football' Clobbers Virtual Emmys in Earliest TV Ratings

Emmys Put the Focus on Black Lives, But Also Go Overboard for 'Schitt's Creek'

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'Sunday Night Football' Clobbers Virtual Emmys in Earliest TV Ratings

by Tony Maglio | September 21, 2020 @ 8:31 AM

Guess not everybody loves "Schitt's Creek"

Sunday's virtual Emmys ran into a shootout of a "Sunday Night Football" game, when "Schitt's Creek's" big night was overshadowed (in TV ratings, at least) by the Seattle Seahawks' home win over the Tom Brady-less New England Patriots.

Other NFL overruns also created a tough path for the Jimmy Kimmel-hosted Emmys. (Plus, there was a Western Conference Finals NBA game on cable. That's an abnormality as during non-COVID years, basketball wraps up in June.)

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Due to the nature of live coast-to-coast television, the below preliminary Nielsen numbers for the broadcast networks carrying football -- NBC and 50 minutes (on the east coast) for CBS -- and for ABC's Emmy Awards should be considered subject to significant adjustment. We'll receive final numbers for the 72nd Emmys this afternoon.

The 72nd Primetime Emmy Awards are trending to be the lowest of all time.

Football's dominance over the annual best-of TV celebration is nothing new. The same thing happened last year.

Also Read: Emmys' Historic Diversity: Majority of this Year's Acting Winners Are Black

NBC was first in ratings with a 3.5 rating/19 share in the advertiser-coveted 18-49 demographic and in total viewers with an average of 12.2 million, according to these early numbers. The first 30 minutes of the pregame show "Football Night in America" had a 1.4 and 5.9 million viewers. The next half-hour got a 2.2 and 8.2 million viewers. The remainder of the pre-kick show received a 3.7 and 13.3 million viewers. The Pats-Seahawks game itself posted a 4.2 and 14.1 million viewers.

CBS was second in ratings with a 1.7/9 and in viewers with 7.2 million. A highly rated NFL overrun meant the latest "60 Minutes" season premiere, which is heavily skewed by its lead-in, began at 7:50 p.m. for the east coast. "Big Brother," which for simplicity sake we'll say started at 8:30 p.m. in the east, drew a 1.1 and 5.1 million viewers. At 9:30, "Love Island" had a 0.6 and 2.4 million viewers. A rerun closed out primetime.

ABC was fourth in ratings with a 0.9/5 and in viewers with 5.1 million. At 7, "Celebrity Family Feud" had a 0.7/4 and 5 million viewers. From 8-11, the Emmys averaged a 1.0 and 5.1 million viewers.

Also Read: Emmys 2020: The Complete Winners List

Univision was third in ratings with a 0.4/2 and in viewers with 1.5 million.

Fox was fifth in ratings with a 0.3/2 and in viewers with 1 million, airing all reruns on Sunday.

Telemundo was sixth in ratings with a 0.2/1 and in viewers with 834,000.

The CW was seventh in ratings with a 0.1/0 and in viewers with 360,000, running just repeats.

Emmy Awards 2020: 10 Best and Worst Moments, From Essential Workers to Kimmel's Faux Crowd (Photos)

With the 2020 Emmy Awards in the can, here are some of the highs and lows of this year's virtual awards show.
Worst: Jimmy Kimmel's opening monologue in front of (obviously) faux crowd.

We didn't need Kimmel to pull the bait-and-switch with his opening monologue at the end to know that the "crowd" wasn't actually there.
Best: 'Schitt's Creek' parties it up in Canada.

While most winners accepted their awards at home in front of family, the cast of the Pop TV series gathered together up in Canada, where they have a much better handle on the pandemic. It turned out to be a good thing, considering it won every single comedy award of the night.

Also Read: ‘Schitt’s Creek’ Makes Emmy History With Sweep of Top 7 Comedy Categories
Worst: The in-person presenters.

A few presenters showed up in person, including Jennifer Aniston and Tracee Ellis Ross. Don't think there was too much social distancing going on in a bit that quickly went stale. (We'll cheat a bit and say Anthony Carrigan showing up as "Barry's" NoHo Hank, disguised as a mailman, was pretty great, though.)
Best: “What Have You Been Doing During Quarantine?”

Kimmel turned it over to some of your favorite stars like Will Arnett, Ty Burrell, Chris Harrison, Kenan Thompson and Bob Newhart to ask how they’ve been spending their quarantine. "Good Doctor" star Freddie Highmore joked that for him, masks him more more recognizable. Burrell gave the most R-rated answer: “What have I been doing? More like WHO have I been doing!” (He's married.)
Worst: Kerry Washington and Reese Witherspoon try to ring in 2021 a few months early.

We get it, 2020 has been awful, but there's still a few more months left. The bit came off a tad tasteless, considering so many have truly suffered this year.

Also Read: Zendaya Becomes Youngest Emmy Winner for Lead Actress in a Drama Series
Best: Martha Schrader’s “Unorthodox” acceptance speech.

While some moments of this year’s Emmys were awkward or stiff, Martha Schrader’s acceptance speech for “Unorthodox,” winning in the Outstanding Directing for a Limited Series, Movie or Dramatic Special category, was genuine and sweet.

Schrader was so excited to win and everyone else on screen shared the joyous moment with her by jumping around in the background and smiling from ear to ear.

Also Read: Emmy Winners by the Numbers: HBO Is Leading Network, ‘Watchmen’ Tops Series
Worst: "Succession" creator Jesse Armstrong's living room.

While we appreciated his "un-thank you" to COVID-19 when he accepted the Best Drama Series prize, "Succession" creator Jesse Armstrong seriously upstaged himself with the clashing patterns in his drapes, sofas and carpet. Perhaps he should hire one of his show's set decorators for a makeover.
Best: Essential workers get to announce nominees (and some winners).

Taking a page out of the Democratic National Convention, the Emmys highlighted essential workers like ER doctors and truckers who are the real heroes during the COVID-19 crisis, and allowed them to read off a few of the nominees. No snark here, just a really nice touch.

Also Read: Jennifer Aniston, Courteney Cox, Lisa Kudrow Get Together for Mini ‘Friends’ Reunion During 2020 Emmys
Worst: Sterling K. Brown tries to claim "This Is Us" drama win.

We get it. Jimmy Kimmel hosted a previous awards show that featured the wrong winner announced, but this bit went on way too long. Even Brown himself admitted: "That was embarrassing." It was for us watching too.